High Court’s criminal case backlog reduced significantly

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 June 2026, 23:47 by Denis Chabrol

The backlog of criminal cases in the High Court has been reduced significantly, as a result of support from the  Partnership of the Caribbean and European Union (PACE) Justice Project, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Hack said Thursday.

She told the opening of a joint Police Force-DPP two-day training course that support from the United Nations Development Programme-European Union backed project in the areas of training and forensic technologies and other Information Technology hardware and software, the criminal case load in the High Court has dropped by two-thirds.

“All these improvements have assisted in reducing the backlog and I’m really proud to say that Guyana was able to reduce the cases, particularly in the criminal assizes in the High Court. In between 2020 and 2024, we had about 300 cases listed for  the assizes. From 2025, those have come down to like 100 and something and this is a remarkable improvement,” she said.

Ms Hack said the DPP Chambers was also working to ensure that cases do not pile up again. “That’s my approach with maintaining a standard, a safe course, (29:50) so that persons will have timely trials,” she said. The DPP cited the fact that next week a murder trial would begin for the offence that was allegedly committed about two years ago. She further stated that persons, who had allegedly committed offences last year, had already faced trial.

She expected that the new paper committal system would allow her chambers to tackle the backlog and current cases at the same time. 

The Guyana DPP said the paper committal system would assist in reducing Guyana’s prison population, along with the construction of new prison facilities where inmates were being held in more comfortable and humane conditions while having their trials in a timely manner.

Officer in Charge of UNDP Guyana, Dhiraj Singh said the PACE Justice Project aims to reduce backlogs and enhance access to justice.  He said the EU itself continues to be a critical and strategic partner in their own efforts on justice sector improvement. He said the EU has provided approximately €9.75 million Euros, which is equivalent to US$11.4 million/ GYD$2.3 billion) to address backlogs and improve criminal justice administration in eight Caribbean countries, including Guyana.

Mr Singh said the Guyana Police Force has benefited from several capacity building initiatives and Information Technology equipment. The UNDP official said senior members of the Guyana Police Force participated in regional police investigation training in Barbados, while two senior officers participated in a recent study visit to Spain and Italy to undergo training and they observed enhanced investigation techniques and technology.

“These capacity building opportunities are expected to improve Guyana Police Force’s investigative abilities through the approval competencies of these trains, as well as through initiatives to pass on the knowledge and skills to the officers of state,” he added.