Fifty-five-year-old Justin John stood in the docks of Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire’s Court Room in the High Court on Thursday and muttered in what little English he knows that none of his family comes to visit him and that he doesn’t have a lawyer.That day marked seven years since John,
China Jerseys Cheap, a South Rupununi resident,
Cheap NFL Jerseys, has been in prison. He was committed to stand trial for murder on June 5, 2008.John is one of 23 prisoners who requested early trials and Justice George-Wiltshire ordered John’s indictment to be presented in the June session of the Demerara Assizes.On Thursday, Senior Superintendent of Prisons, Trevor Small, read the Jail Delivery before Justice George. He said that 132 prisoners are awaiting trial. Of this number, 98 were charged for murder, seven of those are women, four are for manslaughter, four for attempted murder, 21 for carnal knowledge,
China Jerseys, two for incest, one for armed robbery,
Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, one for rape and one for arson.The 23 who have requested trial did so verbally, the Court conforming that they were committed to stand trial in the High Court.Attorney At Law Basil Williams, who is representing several of the 23 prisoners, described the jail delivery list as unfair. He said that there are prisoners languishing for years who have not been committed to stand trial.On Thursday, he listed Nigel Forrester, admitted in 2005; Bert Lancaster admitted in 2006; Quince McLennon admitted in 2004, and Dexter Headley admitted in 2006 on this recent list.Attorney At Law Hukumchand also petitioned for his clients Peter Ray Kassim admitted in 2005 and Chanderpaul Chateram admitted in 2007 to have early trials.Justice George-Wiltshire said that the Criminal Justice System is accountable to prisoners awaiting trial as she called for synergy between the High Court and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.Justice George said that citizens cannot continue to languish in prison for years as she also noted the lack of resources.Justice George-Wiltshire, after listening to three of the prisoners on Thursday described their detention as Human Rights violations.She said that people cannot be imprisoned for a long time without being offered a trial. Justice George also ordered Kenrick Haywood and Aubrey Crawford’s indictments to be presented in the June session. Haywood was committed to stand trial for murder in November 2005, while Crawford was committed to stand trial for carnal knowledge in March 2004.Crawford of the Corentyne was granted $100,000 bail some years ago but he could not raise the money. As a result he remained in jail.One lawyer said that under normal circumstances he would have already served his sentence if convicted.On Friday,
Jerseys Wholesale, Attorney General Charles Ramson, by way of a press statement,
NFL Jerseys China, noted that an unaccountable judiciary with poor work ethics can be shown to be one of the main factors plaguing the Criminal Justice System in Guyana.“Records are available that illustrate the sad state of the work ethics of some judges, using indicators such as the hours spent daily on the bench hearing cases, the number of cases completed within a given time period, the time taken to give written decisions and consequently the back log of cases.”He said that earlier, the Administration’s impatience led to unsuccessful attempts to have judges accountable to Parliament.“Recently, some success was achieved by the Administration’s enactment of legislation, an exercise that, though boycotted by members of the Judiciary, led to the Time Limits for Judicial Decisions Act.These are some simple interventions needed to start fixing the system.They include Monitoring and public disclosure of judges’ performances, a more pro-active Judicial Service Commission in making judges accountable and closer collaboration between the police and the DPP Chambers particularly with regards to ensuring that witnesses are available during the trials, the Attorney General stated.