{"id":33066,"date":"2026-11-11T16:04:55","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T20:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=33066"},"modified":"2026-11-11T16:04:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T20:04:55","slug":"courts-to-get-wider-sentencing-options-for-minor-offences-under-new-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/courts-to-get-wider-sentencing-options-for-minor-offences-under-new-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Courts to get wider sentencing options for minor offences under new Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Persons convicted of certain minor offences could be sentenced to community service and other non-custodial measures instead of imprisonment under new legislation being introduced by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>The Criminal Justice Alternative Sentencing Bill was read for the first time in the National Assembly today.<br>Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall said the proposed legislation will give judicial officers a wider range of sentencing options for offences considered less serious.<br>He explained that imprisonment should be a last resort for certain minor offences, particularly as Guyana continues to address its growing prison population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"566\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-1024x566.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-1024x566.png 1024w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71.png 1424w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Under the proposed framework, courts will be able to consider alternative penalties, including community service, based on the circumstances of individual cases and, where appropriate, the skills of convicted persons.<br>Nandlall said the legislation reflects international efforts to reduce unnecessary incarceration while ensuring that offenders remain accountable for their actions.<br>The Bill will repeal and replace the existing Extra-Mural Work Act, introducing a broader system of non-custodial sentencing measures.<br>According to the Attorney General, the reforms are intended to reserve imprisonment primarily for more serious offences while giving courts greater flexibility in dealing with minor offenders.<br><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1424\" height=\"787\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71.png 1424w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-1024x566.png 1024w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-71-768x424.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1424px) 100vw, 1424px\" \/><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Persons convicted of certain minor offences could be sentenced to community service and other non-custodial measures instead of imprisonment under new legislation being introduced by the government. The Criminal Justice&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[467,469,350],"tags":[1349,448,412,640],"class_list":["post-33066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-security","category-legal-affairs","category-news","tag-national-assembly-of-guyana","tag-ncn","tag-ncn-guyana","tag-parliament"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33068,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33066\/revisions\/33068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}