Revised laws of Guyana to be completed by first quarter of 2024 – AG Nandlall

The Laws of Guyana will soon be seamlessly consolidated and updated to reflect an evolving legislative framework, as the revision process is nearing completion.

This was the update provided by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, at a year-end press conference on Monday.

AG Nandlall said that due to the volume of work, the completion date for this exercise has been rescheduled.  A law revision was most recently done in 2012.

“Prior to that, the previous revision exercise was done in 1977 so there was an unfortunate protracted hiatus, from 1977 to 2012,” he reminded. 

Since then, many pieces of new legislation have been passed in the National Assembly, and several existing laws have also been amended.

“All of that is now part of the revision exercise. The exercise is the insertion of the new bills that we have passed into the existing volumes, as well as to insert the amendments to existing statutory provisions where they are supposed to be. It should be completed and launched before the first quarter of 2024,” the attorney general said.

The volumes will also be made available in soft copy or electronic format (MS Word and PDF document).

The exercise is being conducted through a collaborative effort of the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project, and is being executed by the Regional Revision Centre Inc. in Anguilla.

Currently, there are 14 volumes of the Laws of Guyana. This number will increase to 28 when the revision is complete.

Previously the AG had said that some 200 copies of the revised laws would be printed. The covers for these volumes are being acquired from a reputable company in the United States.