AG addresses issues affecting Berbice Bar Association

On Wednesday, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General (AG) Hon. Mohabir Anil Nandlall visited the Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority’s sub-office in New Amsterdam, Berbice where he engaged with the staff and later met with members of the Berbice Bar Association.

This engagement was prompted after the members of the Bar Association expressed dissatisfaction with the untimeliness of the Registry’s services. The processing of Certificates of Compliance, estate documents, and acquiring legal documents was said to be excessively lengthy processes.

Another concern was the position of a Land Court Judge in Berbice which has been unfilled some time. AG Nandlall said that the Government is working to swiftly remedy this issue at the level of Parliament.

“We cannot now appoint the Land Court Judge because the Judicial Service Commission has expired since 2017. Now that we have Parliament in session, we will endeavour to appoint a Judicial Service quickly, because part of the appointment process is driven by a Parliamentary procedure,” he explained.

He added, “as soon as we get that done in the Parliament, we’ll move quickly to appoint a Judicial Service Commission so that more Judicial Officers can be appointed”.

The Attorney General invited the Registrar of Commerce (Ag), Nicole Prince, Registrar of Deeds (Ag), Zanna Frank and Assistant Commissioner of Guyana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) Berbice operations, Gail Butcher, to the meeting, where they were able to immediately address some of the issues related to Certificates of Compliance, transport documents and legal documents, as well as, provide solutions for several other issues.

Also, at the meeting was the Assistant Registrar of Deeds for the Berbice sub-office, Reza Manraj, who was also able to provide some clarification on issues that were affecting the Bar Association.

Going forward, the Attorney General noted that the meeting would certainly not be his last, as he plans to be more proactive in ensuring quality services in all sectors that fall under the purview of the Legal Affairs Ministry.

“We had a very fruitful engagement and I hope to do this regularly in the near future,” AG Nandlall stated.

President of the Berbice Bar Association, Horatio Edmondson, said that he was satisfied with the meeting. He said it was a step in moving forward and committed to having the Berbice Bar Association work more closely with GRA and the Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority.