Guyana beefing up forensic investigation capacity; application of new forfeiture legislation

Last Updated on Monday, 9 October 2023, 18:27 by Denis Chabrol

Several foreign forensic experts have been hired to boost the capacity of the Guyana Forensic Laboratory and they have also been tasked with collaborating with the University of Guyana (UG) to formulate course to assist with the science-based solving of crimes, Attorney General Anil Nandlall announced on Monday.

“To add to what is there already, we have imported four highly qualified forensic experts who are going to be attached to the lab for the next three years,” he told the opening of the Regional Security System (RSS) Asset Recovery Unit’s (ARU) Financial Investigation and Asset Recovery workshop for judicial officers.

Mr Nandlal said the experts were also expected to work with UG to design courses to help increase and improve Guyana’s science-based investigation capacity. “I’ve also asked the University of Guyana to sit with those experts and and work out a training programme in forensic sciences and these persons, when I examined their résumé, they are experts in a series of forensic sciences,” he said. These include document examination, ballistic expertise, fingerprinting and crime-scene investigation.

According to the Attorney General, he expects that members of the judiciary as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions Chambers will participate in those training programmes at UG. Mr Nandlall says he has also asked the Guyana Police Force to offer course that the forensic experts can lecture on.

The courses for the judiciary, prosecutorial and law enforcement agencies, this week, he said, were aimed at preparing those stakeholders to use the now almost two-month-old civil forfeiture legislation as part of efforts to fight money laundering and the fight against terrorism. “This is one of the areas that has been flagged for attention,” he said.

Prior to the passage of new legislation in August, Mr Nandlall noted that in the past there was never a focus on civil forfeiture of forfeiture of proceeds of crime and the forfeiture legislation had been limited to provisions in the Customs Act and the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control Act. “We had quite a dated regime for civil forfeiture. That has since changed,” he said.  “We now have, perhaps, in the Caribbean I would say one of the most modern expressions of civil forfeiture legislation with a bias towards AML/CFT type offences,” he added.

A similar workshop is planned later this week for agents of the Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, Guyana Revenue Authority, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Guyana Gold Board and Bank of Guyana to help the country discharge its regional and international obligations.

Guyana became a member of the Regional Security System in 2022. Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards looked forward to the countrywide use of forfeiture law. “With our rapid economic transformation, there is increased need for collaboration from regional partners to enhance our knowledge and to apply the law across the length and breadth of this country,” she said.

Executive Director 0f the Regional Security System, Commodore Errington Shurland said the course would focus on various aspects of the legal system, intricacies of case law surrounding investigative strategies, latest jurisprudence in asset recovery mechanism, exploration of the tools and techniques.