Magistrates/ judges to soon kiss ‘luxury’ of discretionary sentencing goodbye
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, on Saturday in an interview with BIG Smith News Watch, indicated that the State, through the drafting division at his ministry, will be aggressively working with all stakeholders to bring on stream sentencing guidelines.
Nandlall spoke with this publication on the matter after he had mentioned during a virtual press conference that sentencing guidelines, hire purchase laws, and bail bills are among the issues receiving priority focus at the ministry.
“There are a number of factors which would be taken into account, and among them are the gravity of the offence, age of the offender, extenuating circumstances, the prevalence of that particular offence, etc, etc.” Nandlall noted.
He told this publication that no sentencing guidelines are in place in Guyana at the moment, and what obtains is that sentencing is largely discretionary. According to the AG, anytime a discretion is there to be exercised and there are no guiding principles in place, that can lead to a wrong exercise of discretion or a capricious and arbitrary execution of discretion.
Just recently, attorney at Law Dexter Todd won an appeal where sixty-two years were taken off from the sentence of a man who was convicted for killing his reputed wife. The accused, through his lawyer, argued that the sentence was inhumane and outside the normal practice in other parts of the Caribbean, an argument which the court agreed with.
“Over the years sentencing policies have developed, and countries across the globe have reduced those, as guidelines and promulgate them to guide judges and magistrates on how they impose sentences while taking into consideration the elements which I mentioned earlier,” Nandlall informed.
He is of the view that if the issue of sentencing guidelines is placed into writing, which is what the ministry is looking to do, at least the public knows, the judges know, the magistrates know, and the lawyers also will be aware. In other words, this issue should be on a surer footing.
Contacted Monday morning, President of the Guyana Bar Association Teni Housty, in an invited comment, told BIG Smith News Watch that sentencing guidelines in Guyana is something that is needed and ought to be implemented soonest after the necessary consultations are complete.
He stated that the Bar Association also believes that there is a need for how those guidelines are implemented, as in other jurisdictions there is something called maximum sentencing indicators.
He said the Bar Association welcomes a holistic approach to not only sentencing guidelines but also maximum sentencing indicators.
