Consultation begins on draft amendments to Sexual Offences Act

See below statement issued by the Attorney General's Chambers:

As part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Support for the Criminal Justice System (SCJS) Project being executed by the Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs, a Consultant was retained to review and conduct a legal gap analysis of the sexual offences legislative regime in Guyana, including but not limited to, the Sexual Offences Act 2010 and to prepare a revised Sexual Offences Act for implementation.

In the execution of this task, the Consultant was required to engage key stakeholders and individuals in consultations and interviews. These include: (1) Judges of the Supreme Court, (2) the Director of Public Prosecutions, (3) Magistrates, (4) members of the Guyana Police Force, (5) the legal profession, (6) child-care officers, (7) individuals with pending court matters, both as victims and offenders.

The Consultant was also required to review similar legislation across the Caribbean and the Commonwealth and to borrow from those legislation, provisions which may either be absent or deficient in Guyana’s statutory framework.

We are pleased to inform that the Consultant has completed the aforementioned tasks and has submitted draft amendments to the Sexual Offences Act 2010.

In keeping with the Government’s policy to consult on important legislation, we invite your recommendations, proposals/amendments to be submitted to agchambersmola@gmail.com within 21 days from the date hereof. A copy of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2024 can be accessed at the Ministry of Legal Affairs’        website      at https://mola.gov.gy//bills/THE%20SEXUAL%20OFFENCES%20(AMENDMENT)%20BILL%202024.1716843811.pdf.