| The law, as it stands, prevents Guyana from extraditing any other of its citizens to the United States. The reason is that the treaty between Guyana and the United States does not prevent the United States from extraditing the Guyanese to a third country, in contravention of local laws and treaties.Chief Justice Ian Chang recently handed down a ruling to this effect, much to the displeasure of the United States.British legal expert, Queens Counsel Paul Garlick, asked about the treaty, said that Guyana inherited many of its laws from the British. He said that treaties with Commonwealth countries do not allow for further extradition to third countries.“This issue does not arise,” Mr Garlick said.He said that as it relates to the United States,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, this is indeed a difficult situation that will require difficult answers. Mr Garlick said that Guyana could enter into diplomatic negotiations with the United States seeking assurances that there will be no extradition to third countries.However, there is no guarantee that the assurance would be kept.The next possible solution is a modification of the laws. Because of this impasse, the United States is currently in discussion with Guyana toward modifying the laws to allow for continued extradition to the United States.Recently, two high profile drug suspects challenged the attempts to extradite them to the United States and prompted the ruling by the Chief Justice.Mr Garlick is here as a representative of the consulting firm of Julian Laite, a consulting barrister. He is conducting a programme designed to modernize the justice system in Guyana.Justice Claudette Singh is the Project Coordinator for the Modernisation of the Justice project, which is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, at the request of the Guyana Government.Justice Singh has arranged the lecture sessions hosted by Mr Garlick with the prosecutors drawn from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, the police prosecutors and those attached to the Guyana Revenue Authority.Justice Singh is of the view that while prosecutors from the Guyana Police Force are doing a yeoman service, there is still need to engage more qualified attorneys from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to handle narcotics and other indictable matters.Speaking to this newspaper, Justice Singh said that it is very likely that in the long term there will be a phasing out of police prosecution in matters of such nature and utilize the services of staff from the DPP’s chambers.She noted that the state does not have an excellent record with regards to the successful prosecution of narcotics and indictable cases since accused persons seek the best lawyers to defend them, and in most cases the police prosecutors are no match for these high priced attorneys.To this end,NFL Jerseys China, prosecutors are now benefiting from the expertise of Mr. Garlick,Cheap China Jerseys Authentic, who is currently conducting several training seminars with a view to preparing prosecutors to meet the challenges relating to their work.The Queen’s Counsel’s visit to Guyana is also aimed at reorganizing the DPP’s Chambers.Justice Singh explained this venture required a tender for a consultancy to help with the reorganization.The bid was won by British legal consultancy firm Julian Laite Consultancy, of which Mr Garlick is a member.“In so doing we have to look at conditions of the DPP office, which is severely understaffed at the moment. We have to find a way to keep lawyers (in the DPP chambers),Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic,” Justice Singh said.According to Justice Singh,Cheap NFL Jerseys, the idea of phasing out police prosecution in indictable matters will have to be carefully looked at.She pointed to the example which obtains in Uganda, which took about six years for such a move to materialise.She opined that perhaps the government will reconsider adjusting the remuneration of attorneys in the DPP chambers to attract new entrants.Meanwhile, the present training programme also looked at prosecuting cyber crime, an area that Guyana is very deficient in.Justice Singh said that because of the nature of cyber crime, which can encompass several jurisdictions,Cheap Jerseys Online, the laws of Guyana will have to be amended to make prosecution here more effective.Several countries have signed on to a convention to secure prosecution in cyber crime activities. However, Guyana is not yet a part of that initiative.“Guyana is not a member because of lack of legislation,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys,” Justice Singh said. |
