HGP Nightly News – The January 2026 Demerara Criminal Assizes opened on Tuesday with 126 criminal cases listed to be heard between January and March, a sharp drop that the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) says reflects years of work to ease a long-standing court backlog. Data released by the DPP’s Chambers show a clear downward shift over the last five years.
In January 2020, 318 cases were listed for hearing. The figure climbed to 342 in 2021 and peaked at 367 in 2022, before beginning a steady decline to 307 in 2023, 259 in 2024, 134 in 2025, and now 126 in 2026.
Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, said the reduction is tied to ongoing efforts by her office to move matters through the system more efficiently, addressing both older cases and new files to ensure trials are held within a reasonable time, consistent with constitutional requirements.
She noted that this push is not limited to Demerara, but also extends to the Berbice and Essequibo criminal assizes. Even with the improving numbers, Ali-Hack cautioned that persistent obstacles continue to slow prosecutions.
Among the biggest issues, she said, are the difficulty in locating witnesses and accused persons who are on bail, along with delays caused by inaccurate or outdated addresses recorded during investigations.
She stressed that confirming correct addresses at the investigative stage is critical, since failures often trigger adjournments and contribute to congestion in the court system. Still, the latest caseload suggests the January assizes are moving further away from the heavy volumes seen earlier in the decade. The January 2026 Demerara Criminal Assizes will run through March.
