AG Nandlall Warns Traffic Ranks Face Lawsuits for Detaining Drivers or Seizing Property Over Ticketable Offenses
By Antonio Dey| HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — In a stern, direct warning aimed at curbing institutional overreach within the Guyana Police Force, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, has declared that police officers have zero legal authority to detain motorists, seize their vehicles, or confiscate driver’s licenses for common, ticketable traffic breaches.
Speaking directly on his weekly public accountability program, Issues in the News, the Attorney General revealed that his office has been inundated with sharp public outcries from citizens detailing frequent, unlawful “hold-ups” by traffic ranks. Nandlall clarified that officers who bypass the statutory ticketing framework to subject drivers to arbitrary station detentions are actively violating the constitution and can be sued in their personal capacity for substantial civil damages.
“Any police officer who, instead of issuing a ticket for any of these offenses, detains any person or detains their property—their motor vehicle—that policeman is liable to be sued,” Nandlall warned, putting an immediate spotlight on whether street-level enforcement practices are running directly contrary to state legislative reforms.
The Attorney General explained that the entire statutory purpose of introducing ticketed offenses into Guyana’s traffic laws was to systematically streamline roadside stops, insulate citizens from arbitrary state power, and eliminate administrative bottlenecks. The law explicitly mandates that when a rank detects a standard ticketable infraction—such as failing to wear a seatbelt, minor speeding, or obscure license plates—the officer’s legal jurisdiction begins and ends with compiling the data, writing out the ticket, and allowing the motorist to proceed with their day.
Nandlall stressed that the law does not authorize ranks to seize a driver’s physical license, insurance documents, or certificate of fitness as leverage to force them to drive to a police station and wait for hours under the hot sun.
“He can be sued for false imprisonment, wrongful arrest,” the Legal Affairs Minister noted, itemizing the precise civil liabilities rogue ranks face. “You can be sued for constitutional breaches of a person’s liberty. You can be sued for detention of property and a whole host of civil wrongs and constitutional violations.”
The Attorney General’s intervention highlights a persistent friction point in Guyana’s contemporary transport modernization. While the Ministry of Home Affairs has aggressively deployed digital e-ticketing cameras to automate traffic enforcement along major highways, traditional manual checkpoints continue to face allegations of extortion and procedural non-compliance. By publicly empowering citizens to mount direct civil litigation against individual offending ranks rather than just the state entity, the Attorney General is aiming to instill a culture of strict legal compliance and professional civility across the country’s national traffic management apparatus.
