By Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News |
The Guyana Judiciary is grappling with significant staff shortages after losing more than 100 employees in 2025, a situation that is placing mounting pressure on court operations across the country.
The disclosure was made during the opening of Law Year 2026 by Acting Chancellor Roxane George, who outlined the scale of the losses and their impact on the justice system.
According to the Acting Chancellor, the judiciary has lost personnel primarily to the private sector, government ministries, public sector agencies, and immigration-related employment. She noted that while investments have been made in expanding court infrastructure, administrative capacity and human resources remain a critical weakness.
The staff shortages are being felt most acutely in the Magistrates’ Courts, which handle approximately 90 per cent of the country’s criminal caseload, in addition to civil matters such as petty debt, landlord and tenant disputes, domestic violence, family, and maintenance cases.
In 2025 alone, Magistrates’ Courts received an estimated 30,000 criminal cases and around 700 civil matters. The heavy workload, combined with limited staffing, has resulted in delays in inquests and the preparation of records for appeals, further straining the justice delivery process.
While reforms such as paper committals have helped reduce some administrative burdens, the Acting Chancellor stressed that shortages among court office staff continue to pose a major challenge that requires urgent attention.
To address the issue, she pointed to ongoing and proposed reforms at the level of the Judicial Service Commission, including improved salary scales aimed at attracting and retaining skilled personnel. She noted that some staff appointed through the Judicial Service Commission are already being paid at higher rates than those appointed through the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Public Service.
However, this has created what she described as a bifurcated system of employment within the judiciary, giving rise to morale and equity concerns among staff.
The Acting Chancellor emphasised that resolving human resource challenges is essential to improving efficiency, reducing delays, and ensuring the effective delivery of justice, warning that infrastructure alone cannot sustain the system without adequate and motivated personnel.
