‘We must have consistency in court rulings’ – Pres. Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali has emphasised the need for consistency in court rulings.

“The judiciary must be predictable. You can’t have an Amerindian man with a shotgun sent to prison for two years with an illegal firearm, and you have a man with semi-automatic weapons, high caliber weapons, given bail,” the Guyanese leader expressed on Tuesday during an interview with a panel of journalists and students.

The President’s remarks were in reference to recent court rulings, which were the subject of much public debate.

On December 22, 2025, Gerald Isaacs, a 42-year-old farmer of Jawarie Village, South Pakaraimas, was charged with two counts of possession of a firearm without a licence, contrary to Section 16(2)(a) of the Firearms Act, Chapter 16:05. The guns in his possession were a .36-gauge shotgun and one 20-gauge shotgun. He appeared at the Lethem Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Omadatt Chandan, where he pleaded guilty to both counts. He was fined $50,000 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on the first count and fined $50,000 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on the second count.

Then on December 24, 2025, 37-year-old businessman from Bladen Hall, East Coast Demerara, Amar Persaud, was granted bail in the sum of $500,000 after being charged with possession of ammunition and a firearm without a licence. It is alleged that Persaud had in his possession 19 7.62 by 39 mm ammunition, one black AK-47 weapon and one Taurus pistol, without being the holder of a firearm licence. Persaud appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where the bail was granted after he pleaded guilty. The case continues on January 21, 2026.

But according to President Ali, “we have to talk about these things, the inconsistency does not do well for the system.” He explained that the Chancellor and Chief Justice as well as the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) are working assiduously to ensure inconsistencies are eradicated from the system.

Just about a week ago, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall had raised similar concerns. During his programme “Issues in the News”, he had expressed that “a man can’t go to one court for ‘Offence A’ and he gets a particular sentence and another person goes to another court, charged with the same offence, and they get a radically different sentence”.

Nandlall explained that sentencing guidelines were developed and sent to the judiciary for implementation. “They have it now over a year. Sentencing guidelines are important because it brings uniformity and consistency in sentencing and punishment…sentencing guidelines set down consistent rules, consistent criteria that must be followed by judges and magistrates when they are considering imposing a sentence, and once the rules are settled and they are in black and white and the criteria are known, then you would not have inconsistent and radically different sentencing from different judges in relation to similar cases.”

“The judiciary has it already. I have to follow up why we have not seen it implemented,” he noted.

In 2022, the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) had signed a loan agreement for intervention in Guyana’s justice sector. This agreement would finance the Support for Criminal Justice System (SCJS) programme.

The SCJS programme is aimed at addressing institutional issues which affect the country’s criminal justice system. Part of the loan went towards consulting services, aimed at technical support for sentencing guidelines, encompassing diversion and alternative sentencing options.

In a judgement delivered in May 2020 in the case of Linton Pompey vs the Director of Public Prosecutions of Guyana, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had stressed the need for sentencing guidelines to be developed and published by the Judiciary of Guyana, noting that the absence of such is a disservice to trial Judges.

Meanwhile, President Ali had recently underscored the need for strong, resilient judicial systems that can withstand leadership changes. “Once we build strong, resilient systems, we will be able to build an architecture that can withstand every storm. And I want to compliment the Office of the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] and the judiciary for focusing heavily on the system, because that is what we’ll all leave. And all of us leave the office, we leave the system, and the system is what ensures the survival of the product that we deliver,” the Head of State had explained.

President Ali has also announced that his administration will be introducing laws that will hold judges, magistrates, and other legal practitioners more accountable.

He explained that these legislative changes will include robust disciplinary processes to ensure timely delivery of decisions in compliance with existing legislation, as well as the maintenance of high ethical and professional standards.