PART 2. SPECIFIC RULES

TITLE 1. PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE INDIVIDUAL

142. Protection from deprivation of property

1. No property of any description shall be compulsorily taken possession of, and no interest in or right over property of any description shall be compulsorily acquired, except by or under the authority of a written law and where provision applying to that taking of possession or acquisition is made by a written law requiring the prompt payment of adequate compensation.

2. Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of the preceding paragraph-
a. to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any property-
i. in satisfaction of any tax, duty, rate, cess or other impost;
ii. by way of penalty for breach of the law, whether under civil process or after conviction of a criminal offence under the law of Guyana;
iii. as an incident of a lease, tenancy, mortgage, charge, bill of sale, pledge, contract, grant, permission or licence;
iv. in the execution of judgments or orders of a court in proceedings for the determination of civil rights or obligations;
v. in circumstances where it is reasonably necessary so to do because the property is in a dangerous state or injurious to the health of human beings, animals or plants;
vi. in consequence of any law with respect to the limitation of actions;
vii. for so long only as may be necessary for the purposes of any examination, investigation, trial or inquiry or, in the case of land, for the purposes of the carrying out thereon of work of soil conservation or the conservation of other natural resources or work relating to agricultural development or improvement;
viii. which is not beneficially occupied or which, if it is beneficially occupied, is not so occupied by the holder of the title to the land or by any member of his or her family; or
ix. in consequence of any law requiring an employer to remunerate his or her employee during any period of compulsory national service which the employee has undertaken; or
b. to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of-
i. property of the Amerindians of Guyana for the purpose of its care, protection and management or any right, title or interest held by any person in or over any lands situate in an Amerindian District, Area or Village established under the Amerindian Act for the purpose of effecting the termination or transfer thereof for the benefit of an Amerindian community;
ii. enemy property;
iii. property of a deceased person, a person of unsound mind or a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years, for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the persons entitled to the beneficial interest therein;
iv. property of a person adjudged insolvent or a body corporate in liquidation, for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the creditors of the insolvent person or body corporate and, subject thereto, for the benefit of other persons entitled to the beneficial interest in the property;
v. property subject to a trust, for the purpose of vesting the property in persons appointed as trustees under the instrument creating the trust or by a court or, by order of a court, for the purpose of giving effect to the trust; or
vi. property to be used by the State for the purpose of providing, maintaining and managing any place of education, where the property was being used as a place of education at any time during 1976 and prior to the coming into operation of the law in question.

3. Nothing in this article shall be construed as affecting the making or operation of any law-
a. so far as it provides for the orderly marketing or production or growth or extraction of any agricultural product or mineral or any article or thing prepared for market or manufactured therefor or for the reasonable restriction of the use of any property in the interest of safeguarding the interests of others or the protection of tenants, licensees or others having rights in or over such property;
b. so far as it provides for the making of contributions compulsorily by workers to any industrial scheme or workers' organisation intended to work or provide for the benefit or welfare of such workers or of their fellow workers or of any relatives and dependants of any of them;
c. so far as it provides for the regulation of wages, that is, any money or other thing had or contracted to be paid, delivered or given as recompense, reward or remuneration for any work, labour or service done or to be done, whether such provision is made prospectively or retrospectively, including retrospectively with effect from a day earlier than the day fixed for the coming into operation of this Constitution; or
d. for the compulsory taking of possession in the public interest of any property, or the compulsory acquisition in the public interest of any interest in or right over property, where that property, interest or right is held by a body corporate established directly by law for public purposes in which moneys provided by Parliament or by any Legislature previously established for the territory of Guyana have been invested.

4. In paragraph (3)(iia)-
a. "regulation" includes fixation, stabilisation, freezing or reduction;
b. "wages" includes merit increment or other increment in wages.

143. Protection against arbitrary search or entry

1. Except with his or her own consent, no person shall be subjected to the search of his or her person or his or her property or the entry by others on his or her premises.

2. Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this article to the extent that the law in question makes provision-
a. that is reasonably required in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town or country planning, the development or utilisation of mineral resources, or the development or utilisation of any other property in such manner as to promote the public benefit;
b. that is reasonably required for the purpose of protecting the rights or freedoms of other persons;
c. that authorises an officer or agent of the Government of Guyana, or of a local democratic organ or of a body corporate established directly by law for public purposes to enter on the premises of any person in order to inspect those premises or anything thereon for the purpose of any tax, duty, rate, cess or other impost or in order to carry out work connected with any property that is lawfully on those premises and that belongs to that Government, local democratic organ or body corporate, as the case may be, or for the purpose of obtaining or verifying information required for compiling national statistics or required for the purposes of planning, management and development of the national economy; or
d. that authorises, for the purpose of enforcing the judgment or order of a court in any proceedings, the entry upon any premises by order of a court.