Supreme Court says magistrates can preside remotely across jurisdictions

Any magistrate in Guyana can preside over a court via an audio-visual link while physically present in another jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of the Judicature said on Wednesday, clarifying a ruling by Chief Justice (ag) Navindra Singh.

The clarification followed Singh’s decision to overturn Magistrate Delon Bess’s dismissal of three criminal charges against convicted fraudster Dave Rajeshwar Persaud. The court stressed the issue was not jurisdiction but whether the dismissal of cases in which trial had begun was proper.

The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) had argued Bess acted unlawfully when he dismissed matters listed at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court while sitting at Leguan. On May 29, 2025, Bess presided via Zoom from Leguan and dismissed the cases after finding no SOCU prosecutor present, despite a clerk confirming an adjournment to June 27.

Justice Singh ruled Bess acted improperly, failed to verify the prosecution’s absence, and quashed the dismissals as unlawful and irrational.