“We must learn to integrate our wisdom”

– President Ali tells Caribbean stakeholders
– Emphasizes that the Caribbean cannot continue to cover up issues affecting the legal system

President Irfaan Ali said the foundations of democracy, rule of law and political stability must be strong for the criminal justice system to function properly.
As the Caribbean continues on the path to modernize its criminal justice systems, President Ali spared no effort in analyzing how the region can devise solutions to address the challenges it faces.
Earlier this month, President Ali engaged stakeholders from across the Caribbean region who gathered at the Georgetown Marriott Hotel at the opening of the inaugural “Criminal Justice Reform Legal Conference – Advancing the Needham Perspectives Declaration.”

Democratic structures, rule of law and maintaining political stability were some of the topics touched upon by Dr. Ali, who stressed that they cannot be ignored.
“Criminal networks and criminal groups thrive on certain factors,” he said. “If there is political instability, if the rule of law does not exist, if society operates in a non-democratic environment, criminal behavior thrives from that. So it is very important when you look at the whole ecosystem… Political stability, rule of law and democracy are important platforms for the system to operate.”

While stressing that the criminal justice system does not operate in a vacuum, the President also stressed that the Caribbean must come together to address social, environmental, cultural, economic and values ​​issues.
The world continues to change rapidly and behaviours are also evolving. In this regard, President Ali stressed that how Caribbean countries respond to this change is an important part of the criminal justice system.
He believes the best way to do this is to build a holistic community.

“As a community, we can take collective responsibility to reduce the risks that sometimes prevent us from taking bold actions and bold steps.”
The Head of State also urged solutions to go beyond the surface level, noting that if the legal ecosystem is not addressed, it is not just a problem for the justice system or the administration of justice, but for the entire Caribbean region.

The head of state said that it is not possible to continue to cover up the problems affecting the region while ignoring their foundations.
“We must learn to integrate our intelligence… to design and develop solutions to our needs and problems.”
The President also focused on digitalization, the critical role it plays and how it will shape the future.

Dr. Ali did not shy away from being blunt about the fact that Guyana is “way behind” in terms of digitalization. The President noted that it is very important that the Judiciary receives the necessary attention in the legal context and in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
“Two years from now, our judges are going to be in an environment where they need to make very quick decisions about what is true and what is not true based on the arguments that are being made … and that requires a completely different mechanism, a different support system, a different deployment of technology to support their work.”