GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Government of Guyana, on Monday, launched the revised Laws of Guyana, 2022 and the Law Reports of Guyana (2008-2021), saying the project comes at a pivotal time when the country is experiencing exponential growth and transformation.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, told the ceremony that the Constitution of Guyana is subject to only two restrictions, namely that laws enacted must be consistent with and intra vires the Constitution, and that they are for the peace, order, and good government.
He said these laws are ultimately enacted by elected representatives “for the people’s benefit and therefore must align with their values, aspirations, and ethos.
Nandlall said that from the beginning of time and with it man’s entry into society, his primordial quest has been for justice.
“The ultimate object of any system of laws is to deliver justice in accordance with law,” he said, noting that the operation of the rule of law is indispensable to any democratic society. “The rule of law is the foundation upon which the edifice of civil society is constructed. Without it, there can be no economic progress, no social advancement, and no democratic governance. In short, no orderly society itself can exist in the absence of the rule of law.
“Therefore, easy access to an updated and consolidated version of the laws is the sine qua non for access to justice, the rule of law, and, indeed, justice itself. It is the bedrock of the social and economic well-being of a strong and vibrant society.”
Nandlall said that it is a critical part of the architecture of any nation that inspires confidence in the economy and attracts investments, both foreign and local, and that the exercise of the revision and consolidation of the Laws of Guyana is enkindled by the attainment of all these noble objectives.
He said in 2020, when the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) won the elections, he broached the issue of resuming the law revision exercise with President Irfaan Ali and received his immediate authorisation to proceed.
He said that funding for such a venture was available under the ‘Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean’ (IMPACT Justice) Project, which is being financed by the Canadian government, and that Guyana received US$350,000 to support the project through December, 2021.
“Recognising that in the year 2022, several important pieces of legislation were enacted, I sought Cabinet’s permission and funding to extend the project to the 31st December, 2022. The cost to do so was US$100,000. Without hesitation, the Cabinet granted its approval.”
The Attorney General said that in October 2024, a decision was made to add subsidiary legislation to the project. As a result, the subsidiary legislation made under the selected revised and consolidated laws became subject to the law revision process.
He said approximately 325 pieces of subsidiary legislation were revised, with the Guyana government providing funding of US$130,000. He said that the government financed the printing of the revised Laws of Guyana at a cost of GUY$178,640,000 (One Guyana dollar = 0.004 cents).
Nandlall said that the second component of this launch is the Law Reports of Guyana 2008 – 2021, which contain the significant decisions emanating from cases decided by Guyana’s High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
“Law reporting is the process of recording and publishing judicial decisions made by courts and provides a record of these decisions, along with a summary of the relevant facts and legal principles that were considered in the case.
“The purpose of law reporting is to provide guidance and precedent for future legal cases, as well as to promote consistency, predictability, and fairness in the dispensation of justice,” Nandlall said, adding that in Guyana, the decisions of the judiciary form an important part of the law.
Guyana’s legal system is primarily based on the common law of England, which has the doctrine of precedent as one of its cardinal principles. This doctrine is captured in the Latin maxim: stare decisis et non quieta movere, which means standing by decisions and not disturbing settled points, often translated as ‘let the decision stand’.
He said, apart from its usefulness from the standpoint of precedent, law reporting contributes to the development of a country’s jurisprudence.
“Where there is no proper law-reporting system, a country’s jurisprudence becomes stagnant. This stymies judges, legal practitioners, and law students in their academic, research, and other pursuits. It also stifles the growth and development of the law, which in turn negatively impacts economic and social progress in any society.”
Nandlall said that law revision and consolidation, and law reporting will remain a priority for the Guyana government, and that the goal is for the Attorney General’s Chambers to be fully equipped with the legal and technical capacity to realise continuous law revision and law reporting.
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