Attorney General Charles Ramson defended his intervention in the High Court levy case involving Clico (Guyana) and AHL Kissoon saying that the acting Registrar acted unlawfully in moving against the troubled insurance company.
The decision to instruct that the seized vehicles be returned to Clico was taken “on the basis of pure law,” Ramson said on Friday. He told reporters at a press briefing that his instructions were lawful and that the “unlawful conduct was by the Registrar in allowing that marshal” to act against the company.
Ramson appeared surprised that a letter he wrote Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Rashid Mohamed appeared in the press and referred to the public disclosure as “a breach of the public service rule.”
But the legality of Ramson’s written instruction to the Deputy Registrar Rashid Mohamed directing the return of three vehicles seized from CLICO (Guyana) is in dispute. Legal observers have noted that Rule 36 of the Rules of the High Court Chapter 302 of the Laws of Guyana states that any levy proceedings whether legal or illegal can only be released by an order of the court.
“I dare you [reporter] to refer to any matter I have ever done that is not on solid ground as far as the law is concerned… as the person constitutionally and statutorily responsible for the unlawful act of every public servant I have every right to instruct the Registrar to undone his unlawful act, I am not afraid that I might have been in contravention of any law, I know what the law says,” Ramson charged.
He spoke of the action of the marshal on the ground saying, “I hope that she carries out her duties in a similar fashion in other matters that are of a less political nature.” According to him, during his years at the court both as a practitioner and a judge it was difficult to get marshals to carry out levies. He said that often reasons were advanced that there is lack of space.
Ramson said that both the Deputy Registrar and the marshal violated the Chief Justice’s order by moving against Clico.
“If I were the Chief Justice, both of them would have been before me by a special warrant. Maybe that is why they didn’t make me the Chief Justice,” he added.
He noted that there were two orders of court – an order by Justice Ramlall and another by the Chief Justice – adding who is to say which order is to override the other.
“I didn’t do that idly, I did it because I know what the application was about and under whose control all the properties of Clico are,” he stated.
Ramson said that he has been primarily responsible for the protection of the interests of Clico policyholders.
“Had it not been for our intervention at the appropriate time, no policyholder of Clico would have had anything as happened in the other case, the Globe Trust debacle. The government learns from its experience, and I can publicly state that it is I who initiated the process to take over Clico,” the AG said.
The levying on the vehicles followed an agreement by the High Court to an application to levy on the vehicles in September 2008, months before the company was placed under judicial management in February last. Kissoon moved against it and several other insurance companies following their delay in honouring insurance claims when the Park Hotel on Main Street went up in flames in 2001.
On September 11, 2008, Justice Ramlal issued the order, after the lawyers for all the companies consented, ordering that some $146.1 million be paid to AH and L Kissoon together with interest of 6% per annum from June 4, 2001 to the date of the order. The CLICO portion without interest was $56.9M.
