Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698069667879.pdf (Guyana)
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; I • 1 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Current and Capital Budget Introduction The High Court The Full Court The Court of Appeal The Magistrates' Courts 2.

MISSION STATEMENT 3.


ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT 3.1 Organisation Charts 3.1.1 Supreme Court Registry 3.1.2 Magistrates Courts 3.2 Supreme Court Registry 3.3 General Administration 3.3.1 Accounts 3.3.2 Personnel 3.3.3 Library 3.3.4 Maintenance of Buildings Judicial 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 3.4 Legal Marshal Court Reporters Division Probate Land Court Sub-Registries : Berbice & Essequibo 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Full Court Court of Appeal 4.
MAGISTRATES' DEPARTMENT 4.1 Judicial 4.2 Bailiffs 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Appeals and Depositions Financial Collecting Office Conclusion PAGES 04-18 04-05 05-11 12 12-13 13-18 18 20 20-39 20 21 22 23 23 23-24 24-27 28 28-29 29 29-32 32-33 33 34-35 35-36 37 38 38-39 39-45 40 40-41 41-43 44 44-45 45-46 5.
APPENDICES 3 5.1 5.2 Appendix 1 Supreme Court — Budgeted/Actual Expenditure Appendix II Magistrates' Court — Budgeted/Actual Expenditure 48 47-48 47 1.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 INTRODUCTION 4 The doctrine of separation of powers underscores the provisions of our Constitution, which guarantees the independence of the Judiciary.
Article 122 A provides: " 122 A (1) All courts and all persons presiding over the courts shall exercise their function independently of the control and direction of any other person or authority; and shall be free and independent from political, executive and any other form of direction and control."
In furtherance of this provision Article 123 provides for the establishment of a Supreme Court of Judicature, which consists of the High Court, the Court of Appeal' and the High Court and the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court of appeal for Guyana.

The Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates) Act, Cap 3:05 provides for the constitution of the Magistrates Courts, its practice and procedure, the appointment of Magistrates and the regulation of their duties.
In summary, Guyana has a four tier court system which, commencing at its lowest tier, is made up of: (a) The Courts of Summary Jurisdiction commonly referred to as the Magistrates Courts established by the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates) Act Cap 3:05.

(b) The High Court established in accordance with the provisions of Article 123 of the Constitution, functions in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and the High Court Act, Cap.

3:02.
3:02.

(i) The Land Court is a division of the High Court created by the Lana Registry Act Cap 5:02.

It is presided over by a Commissioner of Title.

The Land Court functions in the Ombudsman Building Which is located on Brickdam, Georgetown and in the Sub-Registry, New Amsterdam.

5 (ii) Section 75 of the High Court Act Cap 3:05 provides for the constitution of the Full Court which is the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court.
(iii) The High Court also has Sub-Registries in New Amsterdam, Berbice and Suddie, Essequibo.

The Suddie Sub-Registry became operational in July 2005.

(c) The Court of Appeal established in accordance with the provisions of Article 123 of the Constitution, functions in compliance with the provisions of the Court of Appeal Act, Cap 3:01.

It is a court of review, that is, review of the record of the court's proceedings from which the appeal is filed.
(d) The Caribbean Court of Justice established in accordance with the provisions of Article 123 (4) of the Constitution.

On November 30th, 2004 Parliament passed the Caribbean Court of Justice Act, 2004 to implement the Caribbean Court of Justice, thereby making it the final Court of Appeal for Guyana.

This Act became operational on 1s1 April, 2005 by Order No.10 of 2005.

The Caribbean Court of Justice is now the final Court of Appeal for Guyana.
1.2 THE HIGH COURT 1.2.1 Civil Article 125 of the Constitution provides for the High Court to be presided over by the Chief Justice and such number of Puisne Judges as may be prescribed by Parliament.

By Order made under the High Court Act Cap.

3:02, the authorized number of Puisne Judges is eleven (11).

At the end of 2005, the High Court was presided over by the Chief Justice and eleven Judges.
This court has very wide jurisdiction in civil matters which are heard by a single Judge sitting without a Jury.

During 2005, a total of 4,867 civil matters were filed in the Supreme Court Registry, Georgetown, 1,223 in the Sub-Registry, New Amsterdam, and 46 in the Sub-Registry, Essequibo making a total of 6,136 matters filed.

To this must be added the backlog of 6 1,186 civil matters in Berbice and 12,805 matters in Georgetown, making a grand total of 20,127 matters to be heard in 2005.
The Judges heard and determined 4,680 matters in Georgetown 1,114 matters in Berbice and 17 in Essequibo making a total of 5,811 matters completed, leaving a total of 14,316 matters pending for 2006.

It should be noted that of the number of completed matters 333 are matters that have been deemed abandoned by the Court and 344 were done as part of a special exercise to deal with backlog cases.

The number of matters heard goes as far back as 1999 in Berbice and 2000 in Georgetown.
At this time, cases filed in the years 2000 and 2001 are being assigned for hearing in Berbice and Georgetown respectively.

The number of cases awaiting trial in the court continues to escalate.

However, efforts are being made by the Judiciary to reduce this backlog through a special exercise working between the hours of 4:00 to 6:00 pm everyday.

As at December 31, 2005, a total of 344 matters were completed in this exercise.
The staff of the Supreme Court Registry continues its audit of all matters filed in the Registry by bundling them into categories of matters that abandoned, deserted, ripe for hearing and pending in the Registry either for pleadings to be completed or for decision to be delivered by the Judges.

Matters that are ripe for hearing are sent up to the Honourable Chief Justice for assignment to Judges for hearing.
The deserted and abandoned matters are assigned by the Chief Justice to Judges who have a call-over of these cases so that attorneys—at—law and their parties can be heard.

This results in some matters being restored for hearing by the Court or struck off the list.

The Supreme Court is also using Alternative Dispute Resolution methods to deal with cases listed for trial.

The Mediation method is now being used on a voluntary basis.
There are plans to make Mediation a compulsory step in civil procedure rules and also to expand the pool of trained mediators available to do mediation.

At the end of December, 2005, 295 matters came to the Mediation Cent.

Of this number 232 were referred by Judges of the High Court and 63 through requests by clients/attomeys.

The Court Manager assigned 282 for hearing.

The remaining 13 could not be mediated as neither the litigants nor attorneys could be found.
Of the 282 only 40 were successfully mediated.

While these figures do not tell a success story, it is hoped that this will 7 change when mediation is made a compulsory step in the new Civil Procedure Rules.

In the continuing drive to deal with the problem of the backlog, a decision was made to introduce a specialized Commercial Court.

A Project Consultant was hired by the Inter-American Development Bank in 2004.
In keeping with the design of the Project two Judges as well as other ancillary staff have been trained in 2005.

This Court commenced work on June 21, 2006.

In this move to streamline cases to improve the efficiency of the Courts, it is envisaged that the new Civil Rules Procedure of Court drafted by the Rules Making Committee would be implemented.

These new rules are aimed at making the procedure in court Judge - driven, so that they are in control of the pace of litigation, and not attorneys-at-law.
Case Management will be used by Judges to schedule events which must take place before the given trial date which is set at the Case Management Conference.

Another problem that needs to be addressed is the number of cases completed but for the delivery of decisions by Judges.
This is a grave problem for the litigant, the High Court and Court of Appeal, as these matters cannot be taken off the list at the High Court as completed nor can the record of those for which oral decisions were given and which are now on appeal, be prepared for hearing at the Court of Appeal.

This is causing problems with litigants and more and more of them are publicly voicing their dissatisfaction.

This impacts very negatively on public' trust and confidence in the court system.
Every effort should therefore be made by Judges to comply with the provisions of Article 197 (3) of the Constitution which, provides that Judges can be removed from office for: _ persistently not writing decisions, or for continuously failing to give decisions and reasons therefor within such time as may be specified by Parliament".
Until regulations are passed Parliament for implementation by the Judicial Service Commission specifying the time limit, it would be reasonable for Judges to follow the practice in other jurisdictions and deliver written decisions within three months of reserving decisions.

1.2.2 Criminal 8 The High Court exercises criminal jurisdiction in matters that are brought before it by way of indictment filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
These matters are heard by a single Judge sitting with a Jury of twelve men and women.

In 2005, a total of 37 depositions were filed in the Supreme Court Registry, Georgetown and 6 in the Sub-Registry, New Amsterdam, making a total of 43 depositions filed.

To this number must be added the pending backlog of 476 depositions, filed in Georgetown and 46 in the Sub-Registry, New Amsterdam making a grand total of 565 indictments to be heard.
This figure includes matters for trial in Suddie which were originally filed in Georgetown.

The Judges heard and determined 36 criminal matters in Georgetown, 22 in Berbice and 20 in Suddie leaving a total of 487 criminal matters yet to be heard.

These indictments reflect matters heard in Georgetown, Berbice and Essequibo, for which Preliminary Inquiries (PI's) were heard from as far back as 1999.

In 2005, the Supreme Court Registry continued the exercise to deal with this backlog.
Two (2) Justices of Appeal agreed to forego their long vacation leave, accepting salary in lieu, to hear criminal and civil matters.

This was a successful exercise since the two Justices of Appeal heard and determined a total of 13 criminal indictments in Georgetown over this three month period.

Efforts should be made to reduce the length of time that elapses between the time that an accused person is charged, and, the time of his trial in the High Court.
Preliminary Inquiries should be held at the earliest opportunity so that the depositions can be filed in the High Court and the Chambers of the DPP to facilitate the DPP filing an indictment in the matter This should be done to avoid litigation on the ground that this is a breach by the State of the fundamental rights of the accused to the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time enshrined in the constitution.
Efforts were made by the Supreme Court Registry to shorten this time span.

Clerks of Court were requested to submit a monthly report on the status of Preliminary Inquiries in their respective Magisterial Districts.

This information was analyzed with the Prison Returns to ascertain the length of 9 time that prisoners are in prison awaiting trial and the status of their matters before the courts.
The resulting information is then sent to the Chief Justice who advises on the course of action to be taken as to the subsequent conclusion of Preliminary Inquiries and the preparation of depositions for filing in the High Court and the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Maybe the time has come for some law revision which aims at reducing the time between the date of charge and subsequent trial at the High Court.
This may be done by eliminating the holding of Preliminary Inquires altogether and issue what is called 'paper committals'.

However, this should only be done after consultation with all of the stake-holders as this is a massive change, which has serious implications for the Police, who will have to be trained as well as the Chambers of the DPP.

Consideration should also be given to the impact that any such a move will have on the High Court and the present rate of concluding criminal matters.
In the meantime, every effort should be made by the Police and Magistrates to conclude the holding of Preliminary Inquiries.

Too often, Preliminary Inquiries go for prolonged periods ranging from one (1) to three (3) years because of adjournments which are granted by Magistrates at the request of the Prosecutors and also because of the failure of the Police to produce witnesses.
In respect of preparation of appeals against decisions of Magistrates and typing of deposition evidence, efforts were made to speed up the process of having the records prepared and submitted to the Full Court or the Court of Appeal by contracting out the typing services.

There is need also to increase the number of Judges.

The impact of the problem of too few Judges is seen in the analysis of the growing backlog of both civil and criminal cases, taken in conjunction with the assignment of Judges.
That assignment is as follows: Essequibo Berbice Georgetown one (to be increased to 2 in 2006) two (one to hear criminal and one to hear civil matters) 1- Bail Court 1- Chamber Court 1- Commercial Court 2- Civil 4- Criminal Total - 12 10 Clearly, consideration should be given to increasing the present complement of Judges and to utilize the provisions of Article 128A of the Constitution to appoint part-time Judges.
Retired Judges, can be employed as part-time Judges, to help with the backlog of civil and criminal cases.

1.2.3 Marshal In the Marshals' section of the High Court, Georgetown and the Sub — Registries in New Amsterdam and Essequibo, a total of 3,631 matters were filed for service; 2,866 of which were filed in Georgetown, 695 in the Sub- Registry Berbice and 70 in the Sub-Registry Essequibo.
To this number must be added the pending backlog of 2,637 matters in Georgetown and 133 in New Amsterdam making a grand total of 6,401 matters to be served.

Of this number 2,388 was served in Georgetown, 616 in the Sub-Registry Berbice and 70 in the Sub-Registry Essequibo.

There were 9 auction sales in Georgetown and 1 in the Sub-Registry Berbice, at which levied property, both movable and immovable, were sold at public auction as advertised.
The restructuring of this unit which commenced in late 2004 has had major success in Georgetown as the efficiency and integrity of the unit has improved.

This effort is now being implemented in New Amsterdam.

1.2.4 Probate During 2005, 1,002 applications for the grants of Probate and Letters of Administration were filed in Georgetown and 226 in the Sub- Registry, New Amsterdam making a total of 1,228 applications filed.
To this number must be added the backlog of 177 matters in Georgetown and 250 in Berbice, making a grand total of 1,655 applications to be heard.

Of this number 937 were granted and issued in Georgetown and 229 in the Sub- Registry New Amsterdam, making a total of 1,166 applications disposed, leaving a total of 489 applications pending for 2005.

1.23 Land Court 1I The Land Court functions in Georgetown at the Ombudsman's Building, Brickdam, and at the Sub-Registry, New Amsterdam, Berbice.
With the opening of the Sub-Registry in Suddie, it is envisaged that this unit will operate there in 2006.

In 2005, 427 Petitions for Prescriptive Title to Land were filed in Georgetown and 166 in the Berbice making a total of 593 petitions filed.

To this number must be added the backlog of 81 in Georgetown and 424 in Berbice, making a total of 1098 petitions to be heard.

Of this number 373 were completed in Georgetown and 139 in Berbice, leaving a total of 586 petitions pending for 2006.
Under Section 35 of the Deeds Registry Act Cap 5:01, no applications for Deeds Registration were filed in Georgetown, 54 were filed in Berbice.

The pending backlog in Georgetown is 2 and 0 in Berbice making a total of 56 applications to be heard.

Of this number 53 was completed in Berbice, thereby leaving a total of 3 applications pending for 2006.

Under Section 79 of the Land Registration Act Cap.

5:02, 4 applications were filed in Georgetown and 25 in Berbice.
There is a backlog of 2 in Georgetown and 0 in Berbice, making a grand total of 31 applications pending to be heard.

Of this number 22 were completed in Berbice and 0 in Georgetown, leaving a total of 9 applications pending for 2006.

Under Section 107 of the Land Registration Act Cap.

5:02, 41 applications were filed in Georgetown and 26 in Berbice.

To this number must be added the backlog of 46 in Georgetown and 77 in Berbice, making a grand total of 190 applications to be heard.
Of this number 61 were completed in Georgetown and 3 in Berbice, leaving a total of 126 applications pending for 2006.

Under Section 17 of the Land Registration Act, Cap.

5:02, 29 applications were filed in Georgetown and 0 in Berbice.

There is a backlog of 15 in Georgetown making a grand total of 44 applications to be heard.

Of this number 14 were completed in Georgetown, leaving 30 pending for 2006.

1.3 THE FULL COURT 12 The Full Court is the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court.
The Full Court sits in Georgetown and at the Sub-Registry, Berbice.

In 2005, in its criminal jurisdiction 21 appeals were filed for hearing in Georgetown and 3 in Berbice.

To this number must be added the pending backlog of 12, in Georgetown and 2 in Berbice making a total of 38 criminal appeals to be heard.

In Georgetown 12 were concluded and 2 in Berbice leaving a total of 24 criminal appeals pending for 2006.

In its civil jurisdiction, 71 appeals were filed in Georgetown and 15 in Berbice.
To this number must be added the backlog of 222 in Georgetown and 6 in Berbice, making a total of 314 appeals to be heard.

Of this number 37 were completed in Georgetown and 7 in Berbice, leaving a total of 270 civil appeals pending in 2006.

1.4 THE COURT OF APPEAL The Court of Appeal comprises the Chancellor, who is the head of the Judiciary and Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission, the Chief Justice and five (5) Justices of Appeal.
At the end of 2005, the Court of Appeal comprised the acting Chancellor who holds the substantive post of Chief Justice, and three (3) Justices of Appeal.

The Caribbean Court of Justice came into operation on the 1st April, 2005 thereby becoming the final court of appeal in Guyana in both civil and criminal matters.

An appeal is on the record.


In this regard in criminal matters, the court has the responsibility for preparing the record of appeal at the cost of the state for use of the accused, his attorney-at-law, the D.P.P, and a panel of at least three Judges sitting to hear and determine the appeal.

The Court of Appeal must settle the record of appeal in civil matters and it is for the appellant to produce the record of appeal, after it has been duly settled for use of the Court.
During 2005, 100 civil appeals were filed.

To this number must be added the backlog of 246 appeals, making a total of 346 appeals to be heard.

The Court of Appeal heard 61 of those civil appeals leaving 285 yet to be heard.

Of this number 16 are ready for fixture, 18 are awaiting records to be 13 prepared and filed by attorneys at law for the appellants, 12 are awaiting records to be filed and 9 are reserved for decision of the Court.
The remaining 230 await the submission of reasons for decisions, High Court files and Minute Books containing the notes of evidence taken during the trial from the respective Judges of the High Court.

In its criminal jurisdiction 28 appeals were filed in 2005, to which must be added 28 pending from 2003.

Of this number 5 were concluded leaving 51 pending for 2006.

There were 49 chamber applications filed in 2005, to which must be added 4 pending from 2003.
Of this number 49 were concluded leaving 4 pending for 2006.

In 2005, 22 complaints were filed against attorneys-at-law by clients for hearing before the Legal Practitioners Committee (LPG).

To this number must be added the pending 38 matters from 2004, making a total of 60 complaints to be hear.

Of this number 6 were concluded leaving 54 pending for 2006.

Five of these reports are to be written up and submitted to the Chancellor for disciplinary action to be taken.
1.5 THE MAGISTRATES' COURTS For administrative purposes the Magistrates Courts have befn divided into eight magisterial districts, namely: (i) The Corentyne Magisterial District with Head Offices at Whim.

(ii) The Berbice Magisterial District with Head Offices in New Amsterdam.

(iii) The East Demerara Magisterial District With Head Offices at Vigilance.

(iv) The Georgetown Magisterial District with Head Offices in Georgetown.

(v) The West Demerara Magisterial District with Head Offices at Vreed-en-Hoop.
14 (vi) The Essequibo Magisterial District with Head Offices at Suddie, (vii) The North West Magisterial District administered by Georgetown and Essequibo.

(viii) The Rupununi Magisterial District administered by Georgetown.

These eight magisterial districts are authorised to be served by 21 Magistrates but in fact were served by only 16 Magistrates in 2005.
Approximately ninety per cent of the litigation which feed the judicial system of this country emanates from the Magistrates Courts which have both civil and criminal jurisdiction.

In its civil jurisdiction Magistrates adjudicate in petty debt claims for the recovery of any debt or damages where the amount claimed does not exceed fifty thousand dollars as well as claims for rent and possession of premises.
The Magistrates' Courts also have jurisdiction to hear applications for assessment of rent, but no such applications were filed in 2005.

In its criminal jurisdiction, Magistrates hear and determine complaints in respect of traditional summary conviction offences and indictable offences which are tried summarily by virtue of provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction (Procedure) Act Cap.

10:02 as amended by The Administration of Justice Act, 1978.
Preliminary Inquiries (PI' s) are held by Magistrates, into indictable offences.

In their statutory capacity as Coroners, Magistrates hold inquests into deaths which occur under suspicious circumstances.

Magistrates also sit as members of Liquor Licensing Boards and Cinematography Boards.

Tables 1 and 2 show criminal and civil matters that were filed and disposed of in 2005 in the various Magisterial Districts.
.15 Table 1- STATUS OF CRIMINAL CASES - Ma2istrates Courts District Summary Indictable Narcotics Traffic Preliminary Inquires Inquests Georgetown (Avenue Republic) of the West (Vreed-en-Hoop) Demerara Essequibo (Suddie) Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 East Demerara Filed 2005 (Vigilance) Berbice Amsterdam) Corentyne (Whim) Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 (New Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Piigiiikr-tii2OR Filed for 2005 Disposed for 2005 Pending 05/12/31 3683 11924 9285 6322 25 1157 797 385 743 1370 1484 629 1809 2422 2731 1500 762 2090 2260 592 810 1812 2170 452 Wr2 107,5 18727 9880 1845 1645 2052 1438 61 315 240 136 379 74 208 245 332 1132 933 531 489 116 204 401 150 235 46 339 K256 41/ 3683 3090 1230 493 630 1093 31 192 86 137 92 , 106 86 112 70 162 67- 165 67 89 86 70 21 63 57 27 B if ii'd5 1012 1604 3289 5546 5697 3138 21 1420 761 680 69 310 281 98 731 2802 2964 569 779 26471 3288 138 ' .
144 1156 1183 117 5gli DOT 14174 4740 196 68 73 191 21 16 ' 10 27 91 290 191 190 23 23 12 34 151 213 57 307 44 20 3 61 WA Md 346 810 Summary Pending in 2004 Filed in 2005 Disposed for 2005 18,494 39,916 37,942 Pending 5/12/31 - 20,468 1 105 3 - 108 35 5 - 40 28 - - 28 124 - - 124 23 - - 23 21 - - 21 336 8 - 344 16 A breakdown of these figures for each Magisterial District is shown hereunder: Georgetown 2004 2005 West Demerara 2004 2005 Essequibo 2004 2005 East Demerara 2004 2005 Berbice 2004 2005 Corentyne 2004 2005 114 Summary Amount Pending Filed Disposed Pendin t Pending Filed Disposed Pendin I Pending Filed Disposed Pen•' 1 1 Pending Filed Disposed Pendin I Pending Filed Disposed Pendin 1 Pending Filed Disposed Pending 10,348 19,679 17,737 12,290 194 3,105 1,894 1,405 1,402 2,150 2,250 1,302 3,089 6,541 6,707 2,923 2,271 5,155 5,895 1,531 1,190 3,286 3,459 1.017 Table 2 - STATUS OF CIVIL CASES rates Courts District Possession Other Claims 17 Georgetown (Avenue Of The Republic) West (Vreed-en-Hoop) Demerara Essequibo (Boddie) East Demerara (Vigilance) Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Berbice (New Amsterdam) Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Corentyne (Whim) Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending in 2004
 Filed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 05/12/31 Summary Pending in 2004 Filed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 05/12/ a 85 48 185 198 35 1105 944 1351 698 2970 4514 3634 3850 Total 1050 1283 923 1410 6 133 78 61 188 236 217 207 61 99 60 100 123 300 321 102 57 206 218 45 1485 2257 1817 1925 18 An examination of these figures shows that a total 4514 civil cases and 39,916 criminal cases were filed in the Magistrates Courts for 2005_ To this must be added a backlog of 2970 civil and 18,494 criminal cases pending for previous years, making a total of 7,484 civil and 58,410 criminal cases to be heard.
Of this total 3,634 civil and 37,942 criminal cases were disposed of, leaving a backlog of 3,850 civil cases and 20,468 criminal cases pending to be heard in 2006.

A total of 20,775 summary matters were filed.

To this number must be added the backlog of 7,832 making a grand total of 28,607 summary matters to be heard.

Of this number 18,727 were completed, leaving 9,880 pending for 2006.

A total of 3,517 indictable matters were filed.


To this number must be added the backlog of 3,256 making a total of 6,773 indictable matters to be heard.

Of this number, 3,683 were completed, leaving 3,090 pending for 2006.

In 2005, 630 Preliminary Inquires were filed.

To this number must be added a pending backlog of 526 making a total of 1,156.

Of this total 346 were heard, leaving 810 pending Preliminary Inquiries to be completed.

A total of 8 inquests were filed in 2005.


To this number must be added the backlog of 336 making a grand total of 344 inquests to be heard.

Of this number none were heard leaving 344 pending to be heard in 2006.

The slow rate of completing matters is a worrying phenomenon when consideration is given to the constitutional issues of delay and human rights.
The time has come for some study to be done of the number of cases that are listed to be heard in each court and their status so that some recommendation could be made to increase the number of Magistrates and court days where necessary.

1.6 CURRENT AND CAPITAL BUDGET In 2005 a total of M$558348 was voted as.

Current Expenditure (inclusive of Statutory Provisions).

Capital Expenditure was allocated to the Ministry of Legal Affairs: M$30 for Buildings and M$4 for Equipment.
19 The Capital Budget's allocation of M$4 for the purchase of Equipment is grossly inadequate as this sum of money cannot meet the cost of buying chairs for court staff, the Judiciary and the Magistracy.

Similarly the sum of money allocated for buildings cannot meet the needs of the Supreme Court'to allow for achieving the target of easy access to justice in a geographic sense.

Without the tools of adequate physical accommodation, justice cannot be dispensed with fairness.
This can be achieved in a programmed manner if there is a Strategic Plan and a 5 year Policy Plan submitted by the Judiciary to show its objectives and programmed implementation of its Policy.

Table 3 shows that the 2005 Budget Estimates targeted the quantum of revenue likely to be collected by the Supreme Court Registry.

at M$65,400 and State Costs at M$2,200, making a total of M$67,600.
In actual fact, the Supreme Court and Magistrates Courts together collected revenue in the sum of M$71,068 which represents an overall increase of M$ 3,468.

•The increase was due to the fact that there was an attempt by the Honourable Chancellor (ag) to get Magistrates to comply with the rules as to work hours and also by increasing the number of days on which various courts sit.
Table 3 ACTUAL REVENUE COLLECTED Voted Actual Fines, fees and seizure 65,400 State costs TOTAL 2,200 67,600 69,897 1,171 71,068 Remarks Increase 1 4,497 Decrease 1,029 3,468 It should be noted that there are problems with recovery of fines which are not paid immediately as this requires the Police to arrest the defaulters after warrants have been issued.

In addition there is need to increase filing fees.


Indeed, arguably it costs the state more money to recover this revenue and this sometimes serves as a dis-incentive to collect fees and fines.

This increase would not impact negatively on the goal of easy access to justice as it is important to have an effective means of recovering costs which must be balanced with the responsibility to deliver justice with fairness.

I 2.
I 2.

MISSION STATEMENT 20 The mission of the Supreme Court Registry and the offices of the Magistrates' Courts is: To provide the required support services to the Judiciary and the Magistracy to achieve the aims and objectives of social justice.

This mission translated into the following goals form the foundation of the restructuring of the Registry of the Supreme Court of Judicature.
Access to justice (I) (ii) Expeditious and Timely Trials (iii) Equality, Fairness and Integrity (iv) (v) Maintenance of Public Trust and Confidence.

Independence and Accountability These goals are also part of the proposed Strategic Plan.

There were Public consultations and discussions with other key stakeholders in the Justice Sector in the last quarter of 2005 with a view to getting an acceptable and agreed Strategic Plan for the Judiciary and Magistracy.

3.
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< a < Y it al ar • =I r* am um sim r ilim r r r it 22 3.1.2 Magistrates' Courts 3.2 Supreme Court Registry 23 The Supreme Court Registry is headed by a Registrar who must be an attorney-at-law.
The post of Deputy Registrar is now filled by an unqualified acting Deputy Registrar.

A Court Manager and an Administrative Officer were also appointed.

The functions of the Registry can be broadly categorised into units: 3.3 General Administration 3.4 Judicial 3.5 Accounts 3.3 General Administration This section is concerned with the administrative functions of the Supreme Court Registry.
This unit comprises the following sections and in this respect it is hoped that approval will be given for the post of Court Administrator to be created in 2006.

3.3.1 Accounts The Accounts unit which is now fully computerized under the IFMAS system is responsible for the control of all financial matters in this Agency.
It is a Budget Agency which is a Sub-Accounting and is therefore responsible to the Treasury for the processing of the payroll, expenditure and collection of revenue and its transfer into the Consolidated Fund.

The Registrar is the appointed Head of the Budget Agency and Accounting Officer of the Supreme Court/Magistrates' Department.

This unit is headed by a Principal Assistant Secretary (Finance) and has an authorized establishment of 32, but is actually staffed by 23.
In terms of expenditure of current budget allocations the staff of this unit must ensure that monies are spent in accordance with sub — heads under which money is disbursed by the Ministry of Finance and that there is compliance with Financial Regulations.

Appendices I and 11 show the Budgeted and Actual Expenditure of Programmes 1 and 2 of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

The Supreme Court of Judicature spent a total of M$543.939 of its allocated current expenditure budget.
This sum needs to be increased so that the physical restructuring programme can be meaningfully implemented.

In terms of Maintenance of building there are 51 Magistrates Courts, the buildings of High Court, the Land Court, the Court of Appeal, the Sub-Registries and the 24 Judges Quarters in New Amsterdam and Suddie to be physically maintained and serviced.
In terms of the Capital Budget the money is • allocated to the Ministry of Legal Affairs for the use of the Supreme Court of Judicature M$ 4.0 was allocated for purchase of equipment.

This sum of money is grossly inadequate as it cannot purchase the equipment that is so badly needed to provide a safe and adequately equipped working environment.

The money allocated for Buildings in the Capital Budget was M$30.0.
It was used primarily for the construction of a Magistrates Court at Fort Wellington at a cost of approximately M$ 18.7 and Phase 1 of the Renovation and Extension of the Court of Appeal at a cost of approximately M$29.6 of which M$ 11.3 was used in 2005.This system of allocating Capital Expenditure to the Ministry of Legal Affairs needs to be reviewed to allow the Capital Budget to be allocated to the Supreme Court Registry, so that there can be better correlation and monitoring of current and capital expenditure.
33.2 Personnel The Supreme Court Registry has responsibility for the management of the human resources of the Supreme Court of Judicature and the Magistrates' Courts.

It is the function of this section to see that the Agency is adequately staffed and to look after the welfare of staff It also monitors the attendance of staff and advises the Registrar on disciplinary matters, identifying training needs and design in-house training programmes aimed at providing an improved customer service to the public.
During the year, 51 persons were employed to fill vacant positions created by resignations and newly created positions in the Sub-Registry, Suddie, Essequibo.

The Supreme Court continues to fail to keep qualified staff and the turnover is very high due to the low salaries offered.

This section should be headed by a Principal Personnel Officer and should have on staff a Senior Personnel Officer and other senior personnel staff.
In 2005 this unit was headed by a Senior Personnel Officer who is employed on contract and has one typist clerk, and an office assistant.

Clearly this unit is grossly understaffed and this factor impacts negatively on the functioning of this unit.

This human resources problem needs to be addressed urgently, if record keeping is to be maintained and a dependable human resources data base, kept.
25 Tables 4, 4a, 5 and 5b below reflects the human resources of the Supreme Court and Magistrates Courts in terms of its Actual Staff as compared with the Authorised Inventory.
Table 4 Human Resources Programme 1 — Supreme Court of Judicature Section Audi Amt Actual M F Temp Perm Acting Land Court Court of Appeal SubRegistry (Berbice) Sub Registry (Suddie) Judicial Section Probate Marshal Law Library Personnel Section Registrar's Section Cleaners Admin Accounts (Revenue) Accounts (Expenditure) 7 7 13 14 23 22 34 , - 5 16 - 2 7 2 3 - 4 2 1 - 6 4 - - - - - - - - 1 ... - - - - - 4 Con Trac t - - - 1 - - 1 - - 1 I - Quail fled ' 7 Remarks Vacancy 1 Vacancy 1 15 16 Vacancy 14 27 Vacancy 4 Vacancy 1 2 4 Vacancy 4 1 1 3 17 5 6 16.
Vacancy 4 Vacancy 1 Vacancy 1 Prog I — Totals _ 198 167 79 88 132 31 5 _ 4 120 Vacancy 31 , Post Salary Table 4a — Human Resources — Supreme Court of Judicature Program 1-- Post Title, Post Grade and Post Salary Court of Appeal,High Court, Land Court and Sub Registries .. Post Title Category.!
: Administrative 3 Commissioner Of Title 1 Registrar of Supreme Court 1 DepuV Registrar 1 Court Manager 1 Administrative Officer 1 Legal Assistant to the Chancellor 1 P.A.S (Finance) 1 Principal Personnel Officer 1 Senior Personnel officer 1 Research Librarian 2 Chief Accountant 2 Accountant 1 Assistant Registrar Grade 14 14 12 12 11 11 11 11 09 09 09 08 08 399,015 584,756 198,185 204,380 165,155 197,177 139,761 104,971 67,491 67,491 86,294 55,754 50,570 1 26 4 Chief Registry Officer 1 Confidential Secretary to the Chancellor & Secretary Judicial Service 1 Personnel Officer II 4 Senior Registry Officer 1 Librarian IV 29 Total Category Category 3: Other Technical & Craft Skilled 3 First Marshal I 2 Assistant Accountant 4 Registry Officer 1 Store Keeper 10 Total Category Category 4: Clerical & Office Support 2 Confidential Secretary 2 Senior Marshal 2 Accounts Clerk DI 31 Marshal 1 Typist Clerk DI 2 Legal Clerk III 25 Accounts Clerk II 44 Legal Clerk 11 1 Clerk II (G) 1 Typist Clerk II 2 Telephonist I 23 Typist Clerk I 21 Office Assistant 158 Total Category Category 5: Semi Skilled Operatives Unskilled 4 Cook (Judges' Residence) 2 House Keeper 2 Janitor 2 Vault Attendant 1 Driver 28 Cleaner 39 Total Category 236 Grand Total Table 5 —
27,088 27,088 27,088 27,088 24,849 Table 5 — Human Resources - Magistrates Courts) Programme U — All Ma_ ist ria Section - Administrative Chief Magistrate Principal Magistrate Senior Magistrate Magistrate Sub Total Auth Amt Actual M 1 2 - 13 16 1 3 6 11 21 1 - 6 7 - F Temp Penn Acting 1 1 - 7 9 - - - 8 8 1 1 - 3 5 - - - Con tract - 1 - 2 3 Remarks Quail fled 1 1 1 13 15 Vacancy 5 Vacancy 1 Vacancy 6 Extra 2 Magisterial Districts Georgetown East Demerara New Amsterdam Corentyne West Demerara Essequibo 27 44 15 14 14 14 13 44 14 13 13 13 12 12 5 4 5 2
Prog II —Total 115 109 34 75 Prog 11 COA Total 136 125 41 84 90 98 12 - 1 1 1 1 17 22 1 - - - 1 1 2 2 - - - - - - - 3 21 9 Vacancy 1 12 Vacancy 1 12 Vacancy 1 10 Vacancy 1 12 Vacancy 2 79 94 Vacancy 6 Total Vacancy 11 1 Table 5a — Human Resources — Magistrates' Department — Post Title.Grade & Post Salary Post Title Category 1 : Administrative 1 Chief Magistrate 4 Principal Magistrates 1 Senior Magistrate 11 Magistrates 1 Principal Clerk of Court 1 Senior Clerk of Court 1 Clerk of Court II 4 Clerks of Court 24 Total Category ' Category 3: Other Technical & Craft Skilled 1 Head Bailiff 1 Senior Bailiff 9 Bailiffs 11 Total Category Category 4: Clerical & Office Support 4 Senior Legal Clerks 4 Legal Clerks III 1 Clerk/ Stenographer 59 Legal Clerks II 1 Telephonist I 1 Typist Clerk II 16 Typist Clerk II 9 Office Assistants 95 Total Category Category 5: Semi Skilled Operatives Unskilled 1 Vault Attendant 14 Cleaners 144 Grand Total Grade 14 13 12 11 07 06 05 05 Post Salary Library A Law Library is located in the compound of the High Court and maintained by the Supreme Court Registry for the benefit of Judges, magistrates, and Attorneys-at-Law at the Bar.
It is also used by final year law students of the University of Guyana.

This facility is manned by an acting Temporary Research Librarian who is not qualified and who clearly cannot manage it.

There has been difficulty in recruiting a qualified Research Librarian and other support staff because of poor salaries offered.

It is hoped that this problem would be remedied shortly as that facility is being poorly administered.
It is under utilized, not because of lack of users but because of poor quality staff who cannot deal with legal queries.

The library holdings were again upgraded in 2005 with purchase of law reports and text books, made by the Honourable Chief Justice to the value of a M$10.

The Honorable Chief Justice was also able to solicit donations of text books and law reports from India, Canada and Law Societies in England.
In June 2005, USAID (Guyana) donated an industrial photocopier for paid use by users of the library.

There are also library facilities at the Court of Appeal which should be upgraded and staffed by an Assistant Librarian especially since the Caribbean Court of Justice will hold sittings there.

Library facilities are now provided in the Sub-Registries in New Amsterdam, Berbice and Suddie, Essequibo, both of which have small collections.
3.3.4 Maintenance of Buildings This section should be a separate unit because of the number of buildings and grounds that need to be maintained.

At present responsibility for it comes under general administration.

The Administrative Officer and Personnel are primarily responsible for the supervision of janitorial and cleaning services for the buildings.

There has been some improvement in the supervision of cleaners, and the monitoring of their work.
29 In terms of the maintenance of buildings, repairs to buildings were effected from both the Current and Capital Budget allocations.

The Current budget of 2005 under this sub-head made allocations of M$12 for the Supreme Court and M$13.784 for the Magistrates Courts.

This money was used to do maintenance work at some of the Magistrates Courts, Supreme Court Georgetown, the Court of Appeal, the Sub-Registry and the Judges Quarters, New Amsterdam.
The responsibility of supervision is primarily that of the Administrative Officer and is' shared by the Registrar.

With respect to capital expenditure, the Ministry of Legal Affairs received M$30 for buildings which was allocated for expenditure on Fort Wellington Magistrates' Court and Phase I of the renovation and extension of the building of the Court of Appeal by which it is intended to house a new court room and chambers for use of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
The M$4 allocated for Equipment was used to buy capital equipment, as approved by the.

Ministry of Finance.

3.4 Judicial The section has wide and very varied functions, which may be categorized to reflect the following units: 3.4.1 Legal 3.4.2 Marshal 3.4.3 Court Reporting 3.4.4 Probate 3.4.1 Legal This section is headed by the Deputy Registrar (ag), who together with the Judicial Officer (ag) and other Senior Registry Officers supervises the functioning of the Registry.
Some of the staff of this section function as registrars to individual Judges and the remainder function as legal clerks and typists in the general office.

30 The principal function of this section is to accept and record matters that are filed and to transmit them when they are ripe for hearing to the Honourable Chief Justice for assignment to Judges for hearing.
In particular it is responsible for accepting all documents intended for filing and subsequent hearing before the three branches of the Supreme Court of Judicature, namely, the High Court, and its appellate jurisdiction of the Full Court and the Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice.

A Cause Book is maintained which allows for a manual record to be kept of every matter that is filed.

In other words, it reflects its progress in the system.
In its criminal jurisdiction it is also responsible for the safe custody of all depositions and exhibits received from the Magistrates' Courts in the counties of Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo.

It issues copies of all documents that are required by litigants and other members of the public and provides the public and attorneys-at-law with information concerning the status of cases before the Courts.
This section has responsibility for supervising the Sub-Registries located in New Amsterdam, Berbice and Suddie, Essequibo which performs similar functions but on a much smaller scale.

In 2005, systems were introduced in the unit to ensure transparency and accountability.

In addition to the manual writing up of the Cause Book, the staff of this section are currently engaged in computerising the Cause Book for current matters as they are filed.
Table 6 shows the breakdown of civil matters filed and disposed of during 2005 in the High Court, Georgetown and the Sub-Registry, Berbice.
31 Table 6 — STATUS OF CIVIL MATTERS — High Court — Registries, New Amsterdam and Suddie Specially Indorsed Writ Writ of Summons Summons and other Applica Tions Adop- Lions Judgment Summons General Petitions Divorce Full Court Appeals TOTAL 3717 4548 1115 - 1540 , 30 314 1268 273 12,805 71 - 3788 1317 214 24 1555 , 693 193 14 900 4341 92 10 301 349 42 12 - - - 4849' ' 1464 1582 176 938 681 229 9 919 1151 365 37 1 - 1304.
1130 213 , 135 .30 10 136 477 1 1 10 - 1288 4078 1608 923 145 1581 394 237 69 8 - - 42 19 11 - 11 .

21 39 12 - 51 443 4480 1160 1650 - - 400 - 314 405 1668 1240 11 - 284 91 1,186 - 13,991 4,867 2 3 410 441 2 - 443 278 - 3 347 18 1,223 9 - 46 11596 1071 278 1 1 109 49 7 - 6,136 4,680 1,114 17 1350 1437 56 315 5,811 12,992 469 22 1,295 8 - 29 281 1914 337 14,316 G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.


Suddie Pending at 2004 Pending in 2004 Filed in 2005 Filed in 2005.

Disposed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending in 2006 In November 2003, a Mediation Pilot Project was introduced, but it is not as successful as was envisaged.
Mediation is viewed as an alternative method of settling disputes by litigants who will not have to wait for years to have litigation concluded by 32 the court system, but through mediation could come to a mutually acceptable position that was agreed to by both parties.

Table 7 shows the number matters assigned for Mediation during 2005 in the High Court, Georgetown.
Table 7 - STATUS OF MEDIATION MATTERS High Court — Georgetown Mediation Remarks G/Town G/Town G/Town G/Town Pending at 2004 Filed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 295 39 These were referred by all of the High Court Judges These were successfully mediated 256 These were referred for trial 3.4.2 Marshals' Section Marshals of the Supreme Court are executive officers of the court.

The work of the Marshals' Section is, to a large extent, closely associated with that of the Judicial Section.
Marshals are required to maintain order during sittings of the Court, to serve legal process, execute levies and to hold auction sales.

The Registrar is the chief executive officer of the Court, and every Marshal is under the Registrar's direction and control.

This section has an authorized and actual establishment of 21 marshals in Georgetown, 6 in Berbice and 5 in Suddie, Essequibo.
Table 8 below shows the breakdown of matters filed for service in the Marshals' section of the High Court in Georgetown and the Sub-Registries of Berbice and Essequibo.

33 - STATUS OF MATTERS FILED IN THE MARSHALS' SECTION General Petitions Di vorce Judge- ment Summons 22 Wit ness Cita tion 50 Inter - Plea ders 9 Notice of Motion 33 Writ of Posses sion 17 Order of Court TOTAL 2637 133 - ---- Writ of Sum mons Specially Indorsed Writ 602 906 Pending at 2004 40 21 .

G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.


Suddie G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie G/town Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.


Suddie Pending in 2004 Filed in 2005 Filed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 0 05-12-31 Pending 05-12-31 642 420 927 1183 202 225 24 22 646 385 1430 977 190 202 24 21 599 637 52 - 1200 1112 44 1 Sum mons & Applies tions 348 19 _ 367 145 72 3 220 144 78 3 225 349 13 - 517 36 _ 553 588 91 9 688 452 58 8 518 653 69 1 - - - - 38 3 - 41 35 3 - 38 3 - - 3 4 .
26 22 15 - 37 17 14 - 31 27 5 - 9 _ 59 120 56 - 176 95 45 - 140 75 20 - - _ 9 1 - - 1 1 - - 1 9 - - 9 2 _ 35 136 12 2 150 154 13 2 169 15 S 1 - - _ 17 16 - - 16 14 2 _ 133 _ 135 197 2770 2866 18 694 10 70 225 114 3630 2388 Ni!

12 615 Nil 10 68 16 19 - - 136 216 8 - 3071 3115 212 2 16 19 224 3329 689 1157 362 723 32 95 - 3.4.3 Court Reporting This service has been successfully contracted out.
Court reporting, involves the taking of verbatim notes in shorthand of all summings - up made by Judges during criminal trials for eventual transcription and typing in the event that an appeal is filed.

Similar notes may be taken of such parts of a civil or criminal trial as the Court may direct.

Full Court Sittings to pay tribute to the memory of deceased lawyers are also recorded.

3.4.4 Probate 34 This unit also called, 'Estates Division' deals with the estates of deceased persons.
It is headed by a Senior Registry Officer (ag) and has three other members of staff.

The main purpose of this section is to provide Personal Representatives of the estates of deceased persons with grants of representation to enable them to administer those estates according to law.

This unit is also responsible for receiving, registering and keeping wills in safe custody.
Caveats are also filed by persons who wish to ensure that nothing is done without their knowledge in reference to the estates of the deceased named therein.

Applications for leave to sell or sub-divide property belonging to the estates of deceased persons are also processed by this section.

Table 9 shows details of the work done by the section during 2005.
Table 9 - Applica- tion for Probate 98 Application For Letters of Adminis- tration 79 Re- sealing of Grant 1 Wills Deposited 803 Pending at 2004 112 Filed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 365 63 354 80 109 95 _ 138 _ 637 163 583 149 .. 133 152 _ 1 - 13 1 - 13 2 _ - - _ 206 _ 842 216 3 59 - _ 1586 422 3 Caveats Entered Citations 51 - .

121 16 .

112 1 _ 60 15 - 11 - _ 30 1 - 33 - _ 8 1 .

Applica- tions to sell by Private treaty 3 Affidavits verifying Accts.

- - .
- - .

5 1 - - 1 _ 8 - - - - 4 _ - Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie An analysis of this information shows that: 35 (i) One thousand and two (1002) applications for Letters of Administration and Probate were filed in Georgetown and 226 in Berbice, making a total of 1228.
To this figure must be added 177 pending in Georgetown and 250 in Berbice making a total of 1655 applications to be determined in 2005.

Of that number, a total of 1166 applications were granted and given off to the Applicants.

Many applications are out of order for various reasons these are to be rectified by Applicants who were sent notices to that effect.
(ii) Eight hundred and forty-two (842) wills were deposited for safe-keeping in Georgetown, three (3) in Suddie and two hundred and sixteen (216) in Berbice making a total of 1061 deposited.

These Wills are recorded in the respective Wills Registers and packed in Cabinets in numerical order for safe- keeping.

(iii) Thirty (30) Citations were filed in Georgetown and one (1) in Berbice.
(iv) Five (5) applications for leave to sell by Private Treaty was filed during 2005 in Georgetown and one (1) in Berbice.

Certificates were prepared and issued.

(v) Thirteen (13) applications to reseal grants were filed in Georgetown and 1 in Berbice.

(vi) No Affidavit verifying accounts were filed either in Georgetown or Berbice 3.5 Land Court The Land Court is created by the Land Registry Act, Cap.

5:02 of the Laws of Guyana.


It is presided over by a "Commissioner of Title" who is required to be an Attorney-at-Law.

The Land Court functions in the Ombudsman Building which is located on Brickdam, Georgetown, and in the Sub-Registry, New Amsterdam.

The authorized establishment provides for three Commissioners of Title.

In 2005, two positions were occupied, one 36 in Berbice and the other in Georgetown.

The third is expected to be filled to function in the Suddie Sub-Registry, Essequibo.
Commissioners of Title adjudicate applications filed in accordance with the Land Registry Act, Cap.

5:02, they also determine Petitions for Prescriptive Title to Land, assigned to them by the Chief Justice and orders the issue Certificates of Title under the Land Registry Act.

Certain areas may be declared Land Registration Areas and the title to land in those areas is known as 'Certificate of Title to Land'.
The intention is that this document should eventually replace the Transport as a document of title to land in those designated areas.

Table 10 shows the status of the several different applications disposed of by the Land Court in Georgetown and Berbice.

1.

37 Table 10 - STATUS OF CASES FILED IN THE LAND COURT Petitions for Prescriptive Title Pending at 2004 424 Deeds Reg.

Act Cap.
Act Cap.

5:01 S.35 2 0 Land Registry Act 502 S.79 2 0 Land Registry Act 5:02 S. 107 46 77 Land Registry Act S. S. 17 15 0 , • Filed in 2005 166 0 0 54 0 4 25 I 0 S 41 26 29 0 Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie f , % Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

-...t` ..f 1.•.

*, ,..-, 1 "- ' .

',e-ii,.,A,.

, )(4.»* _*. ''''''''

 ' e .e ' ' - e Disposed in 2005 139 0 53 Ar1,, t n .11f :"' .

?4? '
?4? '

 0 22 ...4... ism - 4 ":'-'' 61 3 .'

' xAj '''" ••.

14 0 ' gi ;, ' ^ ' 't :.

 n' ,, ,„':, rPf.reVi:=.P:' :: .

: , 451 Pending at 05-12-31 2 1 0 it 6 3 0 ', .

- ' .., , 26 100 i 0 30 0 0 Suddie 4.:;" .

 Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

,.

"` Suddie ,,/, ''.

;' Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.


Suddie 3.6 Sub-Registries: Berbice and Essequibo These are units of the Supreme Court Registry which are located in the town of New Amsterdam, Berbice and Suddie, Essequibo.

The existence of Sub-Registries in New Amsterdam and Suddie is a very convenient arrangement for litigants and other members of the public as they offer to the public all the services available in the main Registry in Georgetown but on a reduced scale.
The High Court sits in Berbice and Essequibo in both its civil and criminal jurisdiction.

Sittings of the Full Court to hear both civil and criminal matters are held at the Berbice Sub- Registry.

1 3.7 The Full Court 38 1 The Full Court is the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court established in accordance with section 75 of the High Court Act.

Cap.

3:02.

It exercises both civil and criminal jurisdiction and is presided over by a bench of not less than two Puisne Judges.
The Full Court hears and determines appeals emanating from the High Court as well as the Magistrates Courts.

Table 10 shows the work done by the Full Court.

TABLE 10 — STATUS OF MATTERS BEFORE THE FULL COURT Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.

Suddie Georgetown Sub-Reg.

Berbice Sub-Reg.


Suddie Pending at 2004.12.31 Filed in 2005 Disposed in 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Criminal 12 2 0 21 3 0 12 2 0 21 3 0 Civil 222 6 0 71 15 0 37 7 0 256 14 0 3.8 Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal is the highest branch of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

The Caribbean Court of Justice has since became the final Court of Appeal for the Republic of Guyana.
The President of the Court of Appeal is the Chancellor who is also the Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission.

A section of the staff of the Supreme Court Registry works at the Court of Appeal Building in Kingston where this Court sits.

39 An Assistant Registrar is the administrative head of this unit who functions as Secretary to the Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Committee.
The staff attached to this Court is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that appeals filed for hearing at the Court of Appeal are speedily processed and presented before the Court for hearing and determination.

Table 11 shows the status of matters before the Court of Appeal.

During 2005, civil and criminal appeals as well as chamber applications and LPC complaints were heard and determined.
At the end of 2005 there was a total of 346 civil appeals to be heard, 61 were completed of, but decision was reserved in 9.

Of the remaining 285, 18 were uplifted by Attorneys at Law on record for the Appellant to prepare and file records of appeal, 16 are awaiting fixture.

The remaining 230 are awaiting decisions of the Judges of the High Court for the records to be settled.
Table 11 - STATUS OF MATTERS BEFORE THE COURT OF APPEAL AND LPC Criminal Civil Chamber LPC* Applications Pending at 2004 end of 28 246 4 Filed in 2005 28 100 49 Disposed in 2005 5 61 49 Pending at 05-12-31 51 285 4 38 22 I 6 54 4.

MAGISTRATES' DEPARTMENT There are eight [8] Magisterial Districts which are administered through six [6] Head - Offices.

The Magistrates' Offices collectively are called the Magistrates' Department.
These offices located in the various Magisterial Districts, are responsible for accepting all documents, civil and criminal, intended for filing and presentation before the presiding Magistrates of the respective courts.

They are also responsible for the safe custody of the records of all proceedings adjudicated over by Magistrates.
1 40 These offices also issue copies of all documents such as certified copies of proceedings and case jackets in completed matters, orders of court and other documents required by attorneys-at-law, litigants and other members of the public.

They also provide the public with information concerning pending matters before Magistrates' Courts.
The head-offices of the respective Magisterial Districts perform the same functions, which can be categorized as follows: 4.1 Judicial 4.2 Bailiffs' 4.3 Appeals and Depositions 4.4 Financial 4.5 Collecting Office 4.1 Judicial The Judicial Section is responsible for the smooth functioning of the civil and criminal arms of the court.

It ensures that all legal procedures are implemented and observed from the time the matter is filed to the time of its final disposition.
Tables 1 and 2 show the status of criminal and civil matters filed in various Magisterial Districts.

4.2 Bailiffs Within the various Magisterial Districts, the Bailiffs' section is responsible for serving summonses in criminal and civil matters, executing levies, ejectment and house rent warrants.
When property is seized by virtue of levy proceedings, the Bailiffs are responsible for keeping an inventory to ensure the safe custody of such property until they are sold at public auction or redeemed by the defendant.

Table 12 shows the status of matters filed in the Bailiffs' Section of the various Magisterial Districts.
41 TABLE 12 - STATUS OF MATTERS FILED IN THE BAILIFF'S SECTION District Georgetown (Avenue Republic) of the West Demerara (Vreed-en-Hoop) Essequibo (Suddie) East Demerara (Vigilance) Berbice (New Amsterdam) Corentyne (Whim) Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Service of Summons Ejectment Warrants Writs of Execution Auction Sales 611 968 996 583 34 133 112 55 - 1 1 - 81 580 499 162 122 208 311 19 24 185 190 19 20 29 24 25 - 1 1 - I 99 40 8 4 44 - 6 6 - 4 - 4 - 5 3 3 5 2 2 3 1 - - - - 1 - - 1 4.3 Appeals and Depositions Written notices of appeal from decisions of Magistrates are lodged in this section.
Records of appeal and other relevant documents are then prepared to be transmitted to the Registrar of the Supreme Court to have the appeals listed for hearing before the Appellate Court.

Depositions taken by Magistrates in Preliminary Inquiries into indictable matters are also lodged in this section.
If the accused persons are committed to stand trial at the 1 1 42 High Court, the staff in this section follow the appropriate legal procedure to have the depositions and other relevant documents typed and transmitted to the Supreme Court, and to the Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions where the necessary indictments are prepared for filing in the Registry.

Table 13 shows the status of the record of completed appeals and Preliminary Inquires (depositions) in the various Magisterial Districts.
43 TABLE 13 — STATUS OF APPEALS AND DEPOSITIONS District Georgetown (Avenue of the Republic) West Demerara (Vreed-en-Hoop) Essequibo (Suddie) East Demerara (Vigilance) Berbice (New Amsterdam) Corentyne (Whim) Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Forwarded to High Court 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Forwarded to High Court 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Forwarded to High Court 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Forwarded to High Court 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 I 1 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Forwarded to High Court 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Forwarded to High Court 2005 Pending at 05-12-31 Civil Criminal Preliminary Inquiries 13 11 10 14 9 - - 9 - - - - 4 3 - 7 7 5 - 12 7 2 4 5 30 111 19 122 41 14 3 52 6 1 - 7 15 14 3 26 43 46 20 69 34 3 1 36 24 13 21 16 21 16 10 27 1 13 8 6 - 11 4 7 10 7 7 10 2 1 2 1 ti 4.4 Financial 44 The Financial Section is primarily responsible for the collection of fines and bail imposed on accused persons during the course of their trial.
It also deals with salary and claims for travel and subsistence allowances.

This unit works under close supervision of the Accounts Unit of the Supreme Court Registry.

4.5 Collecting Office The Collecting Offices in the various Magisterial Districts receive money from persons who are ordered by Magistrates to pay periodic sums of money for the maintenance of children and/or deserted wives.

The monies paid, in is in turn paid over to the person entitled, in compliance with Orders of Magistrates.
This section also prepares Warrants to have defaulters arrested for failing or neglecting to make their payments when due.

Table 14 shows the status of matters filed in the Collecting Offices of the various Magisterial Districts.
1 1 45 Table 14 - STATUS OF MATTERS FILED IN THE COLLECTING OFFICES (All Maiisterial Districts) Maintenance Claims Warrants Distress Arrest _., Commitment Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending 05-12-31 Pending 2004 Filed 2005 Disposed 2005 Pending 05-12-31 285 629 655 259 89 752 544 297 174 222 209 187 32 358 205 185 277 338 430 185 1019 326 933 412 2260 1026 137 3149 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1668 1026 404 2290 29 694 541 182 862 337 107 1092 167 583 392 358 555 475 212 818 276 285 197 364 ' 176 42 10 208 - 3 3 - 10 - 4 6 - - - - 23 49 12 60 4 8 8 4 District Georgetown (Avenue of the Republic) West Demerara (Vreed-en-Hoop) Essequibo (Suddie) East Demerara (Vigilance) Berbice (New Amsterdam) Corentyne (Whim) 4.6 Conclusion Each of the above sections keeps and maintains Registers and other records that are relevant to its functions as required by law and practice.
Basically all the Magistrates Offices of the various Magisterial Districts perform the same duties and functions as those of the Georgetown Magistrates' Office.

However, because of the smaller number of staff in those offices, the demarcation of sections outlined above is not as clearly discernable in the outlying Districts as is the case in the Georgetown Office.

This has led to a number of problems especially in the area of accounting.
1 46 The Auditor General has cited several instances of irregularities due to lack of proper record keeping and general accountability.

This problem can only be addressed if some needs assessment of staff is done, as the present staffing structure was designed some decades ago, when the work load was not as great as it is today..
The Magistrates Courts therefore continue to be beset with problems which by and large relate to lack of qualified staff and poor supervision of revenue collection and bail moneys.

The most worrying problem in some of the districts is the Revenue and Suitors Deposit accounts which seem to be fraught with fraud especially in Georgetown and West Demerara.
To a large extent in all the districts there has been some improvement in the system of financial control in the following areas: (i) (ii) (iii) timely submission of CCBS statements timely submission of Revenue Statements.

increased checks on collection of fees and fines.

However, there is a problem in the Georgetown, Berbice and West Demerara Magisterial Districts with reconciliation of accounts.
A solution to this problem and many of the other administrative problems must be found so as to ensure accountability, maximum efficiency and the delivery of justice in a timely manner by the judicial system.

 5.
5.

APPENDICES 47 Supreme Court of Judicature Budgeted and Actual Recurrent Expenditure — 2005 Appendix I Agency: Program: 55 01 Details of Expenditure Revised Budget Statutory Expenses Total wages and salaries Overhead Expenses Material, Equipment and Supplies Fuel and Lubricants Rental & Maintenance of Buildings Maint.
Of Infrastructure Transport, Travel & Postage Utility Charges Other Goods & Services Operation Expenses Rates & Taxes G$000 169,182 79,339 12,663 17,700 550 15,600 3,500 4,050 15,030 43,474 11,190 0 Actual G$000 166,912 76,223 11,738 17,659 432 15,552 2,989 4,043 15,029 43,075 11,186 0 Total 372,278 364,838 48 Appendix 11 Magistrates Court Budgeted and Actual Recurrent Expenditure: 2005 Agency: Program: 55 02 - - Supreme Court Magistrate's Department Particulars of Expenditure Total Wages & Salaries Over headed Expenses Materials, Equipment & Supplies Fuel & Lubricants Rental & Maint.
Of Buildings Maint.

Of Infrastructure Transport, Travel & Postage Utility Charges Other Goods & Services Other Operating Expenses Rates and Taxes Budget G$000 99,009 14,692 22,826 0 17,184 2,340 17,711 3,614 7,384 1,310 0 Actual G$000 97,265 12,916 22,811 0 15,420 1,246 17,695 3,612 6,859 1,277 0 Total 186,070 179,101