Applications open for consulting services for criminal justice programme

The government, through the Ministry of Legal Affairs, is inviting applications for individual consulting services in relation to the Support for the Criminal Justice System (SCJS) programme.

A loan agreement was recently signed between the ministry and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for further advancements in improving the justice sector in Guyana.

According to a release issued on Wednesday, the agreement is intended to advance the SCJS programme, and is utilising part of the proceeds for consulting services.

Eligible ‘individual consultants’ are now invited to indicate their interest in providing these services.

The consultant will be required to conduct research on the socioeconomic breakdown of the contributing factors behind the high rate of intimate partner violence and domestic abuse in Guyana during the period 2013 to 2022.

This research forms part of the government’s commitment to address and eradicate all forms of domestic and intimate partner violence throughout Guyana.

Meanwhile, during a ceremony to hand over $30 million worth of information and communications technology (ICT) equipment to the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) under the SCJS programme, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, said the government is working to pilot an initiative to examine the cases of femicide that have occurred in Guyana.

According to the United Nations, femicide is defined as intentional killing with a gender-related motivation.

“Femicide is a serious problem, and we have to recognise that. We must address these issues, analyse them from a sociological and scientific perspective, look at the trends, examine the possible causes, examine each incidence so that we can understand all the factors that may be relevant to detect root causes. We are going to explore that, and when that study is completed, it will produce a report, which we will study to draw possible solutions,” the AG had said.

These solutions, he stressed, will be legislative, educational, and policy-oriented, and will cover every possible rubric to allow the government and the society at large to combat the social ill.

The SCJS programme aims at addressing overcrowding in Guyana’s prisons and has also served as an avenue for improvements in the criminal justice system.

The programme has allowed for the establishment of the Restorative Justice Centre and had seen the passage of the Restorative Justice Bill, as part of its two-pronged approach to addressing overcrowding in prisons.

This approach focuses on the criminal justice system’s overreliance on custodial sentences as well as the overuse of pre-trial detention.

Details of this consultancy are in the Terms of Reference which can be obtained at rabindra.kandhi@scjs.gy, during office hours between 09:00 to 15:00 hours, Mondays to Fridays.

Expressions of Interest applications must be submitted to Ministry of Legal Affairs, Support for the Criminal Justice System, Procurement Officer, 341 East Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana, via e-mail on or before July 18, 2023.

For more information, persons can call telephone: (592)-226-1370 Ext. 204/ (592)-650-8803