-and hardly relevant
The Constitutional Reform Commission is moving slower than anticipated, with only six written submissions received from the public since July 1st.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC on Friday disclosed the low response, saying the commission is ready to begin public consultations but may have to reconsider its approach to securing public input. “It is clear that the Constitutional Reform Commission is not proceeding at the pace that we would have liked it to proceed,” he said.
The commission had issued a public advisory on July 1st inviting written submissions, with the submission period expected to remain open until December. However, Nandlall said a report he received last week indicated that only six submissions had been received.
More concerning, he said, is that the submissions received so far “hardly relate to constitutional reform”, with the matters raised largely unconnected to the Constitution or the reform process.
Nandlall said the commission may therefore need to find another way of generating public interest or reconsider whether written submissions should be required before moving into public consultations. “That’s a matter for the commission,” he said, adding that he intends to raise the issue at the commission’s next meeting.
Nandlall also provided an update on the Government’s proposed social media regulatory framework, saying work is continuing on the legislative side. He said a United Kingdom law firm has been engaged to examine regulatory models implemented in different countries and identify principles that could inform a draft framework for Guyana.
The commission is also examining recent litigation in several US states involving Meta, where courts have ordered the company to pay billions of dollars in compensation. Nandlall said the Government is reviewing the rulings and court proceedings to identify relevant legal principles.
At the CARICOM level, heads of government have also commissioned work on a legislative framework for social media regulation, and Guyana has received a draft produced by the consultant involved in that initiative.
Nandlall said the various materials are being considered together to develop a modern, comprehensive and transparent framework while protecting citizens’ constitutional rights.
He noted that any regulatory measures must strike a balance between addressing harmful conduct online and protecting freedom of expression and other constitutional liberties.
The Government, he said, is also moving towards replacing Guyana’s existing Evidence Act, which is based on a 1898 United Kingdom law. He said the current legislation is “wholly outmoded”, noting that only limited amendments were made about two decades ago to accommodate computer-generated documents.
He said a new Evidence Act is urgently needed to reflect modern legal and technological realities and would have implications beyond the court system, including arbitration, commissions of inquiry and administrative proceedings where evidence must be considered.
“If you have an outmoded Evidence Act, it’s going to have a horribly negative impact on the type and quality of justice your justice system produces,” he said.
Nandlall said consultations and public education on the proposed legislation will begin shortly, given its potential impact on how evidence is handled across Guyana’s legal and administrative systems. The proposed framework is based on legislation implemented in Australia and New Zealand and adopted in Barbados, which he said is a modern expression of evidence law.
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