Guyana to abolish preliminary inquiries

Guyana has become the latest CARICOM country to abolish preliminary inquiries allowing for the implementation of paper committals.

Parliament yesterday approved the Criminal Law Procedure Bill 2024, providing for implementation of paper committals, which involves reviewing the evidence and arguments presented by both the prosecution and the defence in written form rather than conducting an oral in-person hearing.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, who piloted the legislation, said the time for paper committals is long overdue.

He said the paper committal process saves time and resources by eliminating the need for witness testimony and cross-examination during the preliminary inquiry stage.