Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall has announced that he is in discussion with the acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Roxane George, to put a statutory framework in place to regulate juries in Guyana.

He said the existing regulations governing juries in the country are outdated, and are not governed by a statutory framework.

“The chancellor and I are discussing some type of statutory framework to regulate juries and the ways juries function,” the Attorney General said.

At the time, the Attorney General was delivering remarks at a ceremony held by UNDP on Thursday to hand over US$400,000 worth of IT equipment and software to the Judiciary, the Ministry of Home Affairs and a number of law enforcement agencies.

On the sidelines of the event at the UNDP Duke Street, Kingston Office, the Attorney General said Guyana may be the only country without a “firm statutory footing” to regulate jurors.

“Countries have gone in that direction, and Guyana may be the only country that has this free framework without a firm statutory footing, and I think we should correct that,” he told reporters.

He said the jury pool is old and outdated, and requires updating.

“First of all, we need to revamp the jury pool. The jury pool is very, very old and we have dozens of new companies that have been incorporated, dozens of new agencies that have been established that are not in the jury pool. And then, other countries have frameworks under which the jury operates, they take oaths of office, you get protection and exemption from jury duties that is guaranteed to you by law,” the Attorney General said.

He said clear provisions must also be put in place for jurors to accommodate their movement and stay in the exercise of their duties. A number of other factors, he added, must be taken into consideration as the regulation is overhauled.

He also said the Government will be presenting a new Evidence Bill to the National Assembly along with other pieces of legislation in the coming months.

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