Members of the recently established Law Reform Commission met for the first time on Wednesday and discussed the way forward in tackling their “mammoth” mandate.
Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, who was invited to the meeting, told the media that the focus of the meeting was the Commission’s agenda. “It’s a very, very long and arduous task ahead. We are still grappling with the mammoth nature of the agenda that we have to execute or rather the Commission has to execute,” Nandlall told reporters at the Commission’s office, situated on the first floor on the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports building on Middle Street, Georgetown.
The Law Reform Commission is an advisory body to the State and can recommend to the Government of Guyana amendments to existing laws, new legislation, and the repeal of existing legislation.
Those recently appointed to serve on the country’s first ever Law Reform Commission are retired Justice of Appeal B S Roy, who is the Chairman, and Teni Housty, Clarissa Riehl, Brian O’ Toole, Emily Dodson, Roopnarine Satram, and Deenawatie Panday.
During brief remarks on Wednesday, Justice Roy said the commission is “fully cognizant” of its responsibilities.
“We are a Commission just under a month old and all we can do this time…is our best,” he said before adding, “I believe with the assistance of members of staff, we are up to the task and ready to go”.
Riehl said the country has seen a lot of changes in a number of areas, including the oil and gas and public health sectors.
As a result, she noted that there is a volume of work that has to be done in those areas.
“…We have legislation to put in place for all of these things…We have legislation for public health [that] is more than a hundred years old so we have to bring all these things up to speed…We have a whole lot of work,” Riehl said.
Meanwhile, Panday said that the Law Reform Commission is looking to establish a “very systematic” approach on the way forward.
“Law reform is totally new to our country and it’s quite a task that we all have here and we are more than willing to give our very best,” she said.
“Of course, we have recognised that it will not be an easy task, very challenging but we are all prepared for that,” Panday added.
The establishment of the Com-mission is a fundamental component of the US$8 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Support for the Justice System Programme. The IDB is funding the functioning of the Commission for a specified period before the Government of Guyana is expected to take over funding.
