A modern method to effect service
As local lawyers, Roysdale Forde and Darren Wade continue to defy logic and common sense in asserting that the ‘service’ of Guyanese court summons cannot be effected in the United States, I found a more modern method ordered by the courts in Canada and would hasten to advise our local judiciary to adopt the precedent soonest; in Pieters v Guyana National Newspapers Limited, 2020 CanLII 107882 (ON SC), (https://canlii.ca/t/jcnpr) the court ordered:
“AND WHEREAS it would be impractical to require personal service on the defendants individually.
ON BEING advised that this order is to be made ex parte, in writing,
1. THIS COURT ORDERS that service of the motion upon the parties is hereby dispensed with and the motion may proceed ex parte.
2. THIS COURT ORDERS validated/substituted service order with respect to the Defendants Mark Devonish (email: markdevonish@yahoo.co.uk and Mark.Devonish@nuh.nhs.uk) and GNNL by email (gm@guyanachronicle.com, m_ramotar@yahoo.com and yogmahadeo@gmail.com) effective June 19, 2020 and October 20, 2020, and dispensing further service thereof.”
This Order was made during the pandemic period but given that we live in the internet age, and persons have ‘verified’ social media accounts, we can even make court orders that posting the summons on their ‘page’ be considered effective service. In the end, service is simply informing an individual of a court action that has been filed against them, it is an imperative in any just system, and quibbling on the means of service stands in the way of justice.
The cost-effectiveness of new methods would also serve justice in Guyana well, for too long persons living abroad have acted as though they are beyond the scope and reach of our laws and enforcement. Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo pointed out that Guyanese are now informed and able to file criminal and civil charges against persons who use social media platforms to extort and/or malign. Persons with criminal complaints can approach the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to move on their complaints, file private criminal charges, and/or bring civil suits against the previously untouchable foreign-based ‘influencers’.
Guyana’s justice system has withstood the test of time; it is not controlled by any political party, and one need not fear that ‘free speech’ will be under attack, for example; in January 2023 Sherod Duncan was arrested and charged with calling a GECOM employee a ‘Jaggabat” and ‘Trench Crappo’ and by September Duncan was acquitted. The system works. Lawyers should advise clients seeking to lay libel matters before the courts to exercise caution so as not to waste the courts’ time. Extortion, on the other hand, is endemic on social media platforms and it behooves the GPF to act swiftly to end the scourge. Defendants, once served, can opt to lead defences or risk conviction in the absence thereof, either way; this will lead us all to the saga of extradition warrants for the convicts. At that point, we will all learn more about treaties, agreements, and cooperation among states. The world has suddenly and certainly gotten smaller and the arms of the law longer; fun times ahead.