The Judiciary of Guyana is moving ahead with the restart of jury trials despite some concerns by the Guyana Bar Association.

In a statement, the judiciary explained that plexiglass and transparent screens have been installed in the Courtroom and will form part of the approved arrangements and guidelines that will allow for the restart of jury trials.

“The layout of the courts along with the installation of plexiglass, transparent screens around fixtures and furniture  and proposed physical distancing of the judge, court staff, prosecuting and defence counsel, and jurors in the courtrooms have been approved”, the statement said.

The Supreme Court has been working with the Ministry of Health and the COVID-19 Task Force to facilitate the safe resumption of jury trials for the October Session of the Demerara Assizes, the statement said.

“This partnership which started since the onset of the COVID Pandemic, has seen discussions on health and safety protocols for the Courts, its staff, attorneys-at-law, jurors and all court users. To this end, there has been the assignment of Community Health Officers to the Judiciary to do temperature screening and related health care associated with the prevention) and spread of the corona virus. These community Health workers are stationed at the entrances to many courts, particularly in Region 3, 4, 6, and 10. It has also yielded medical advice, information visits and care and the provision of supplies to court staff and users over the past six months”.

It was further explained that during the month of September, 2020, senior officials from the Ministry of Health and the National COVID 19 Task Force met with the Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George and other Judges along with the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

The two sides discussed the measures that will be put in place as well as various sanitation protocols.

The Health Ministry also facilitated the visit of another team of officials last week and the sanitisation of all the courts and court offices at the High Court was done on October 1, 2020.

“The resumption of jury trials guidelines were shared with the Team and have been considered to be acceptable and on par with international best practices”, the statement said.

Both the Ministry of Health and the Supreme Court have assured that all necessary public health arrangements for the safe conduct of criminal trials are in place.

The Supreme Court has been closed to jury trials since the coronavirus pandemic reached Guyana in March. Although other hearings were done, the absence of jury trials further contributed to an already clogged backlog of cases.

The Guyana Bar Association believes there should have been more consultation with Attorneys before the decision was made, however, a number of Attorneys have broken away from the Association’s position and have indicated their support for the restart of the jury trials.

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