Hughes, while making it clear that he is not criticising the three judges who were appointed last month, stated that there are many qualified persons who have applied over the years and are yet to be told about the status of their applications
Justices Naresh Harnanan, Sandra Kurtzious and Navindra Singh, took their oaths before President Donald Ramotar recently.
Stabroek News was unable to speak to Chairman of the JSC, Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh for a comment on the points raised by Hughes and the ongoing concerns that this position is not advertised.
“I do not believe that the Judicial Service Commission is properly constituted”, Hughes who is also an attorney at law, told Stabroek News recently. He explained that since retired justice Prem Persaud and Senior Counsel Bryn Pollard left the JSC no appointments have been made to replace them.
He said that according to the constitution the JSC must consist of five persons namely the Chancellor, the Chief Justice, the head of the Public Service Commission, a representative of the Guyana Bar Association and a person who is appointed by the president.
Hughes stated that the three members cannot constitute the JSC, adding that “the deliberation of the three does not have the benefit of the advice of the person who is representing the Bar Association.
“I understand that there are people who were invited to apply and did so long before the present ones put in their applications”, he said explaining that to date those applications have not been considered or rejected.
He said that the deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jo Ann Barlow who applied about two years ago and Land Court judge Rabindra Rooplall are examples of such persons.
Hughes made it clear that he is not making any comments on the eligibility of the recent appointees but noted that the AFC has reservations about the rule of law and whether the JSC is properly constituted.
According to Hughes the AFC has since sought the advice of independent senior members of the Bar as to whether the JSC is properly constituted and “their advice indicates that it is not in keeping with the constitution”.
No need to advertise
There had been a longstanding concern that the post of a judge is not being advertised. Asked about this recently, Attorney General Anil Nandlall told Stabroek News that “historically the judiciary in Guyana has never resorted to the system of advertising for judicial appointments. That is a practice dating back to more than 50 years”.
He explained that persons who feel that they satisfy the constitutional requirements of being in practice for a minimum of seven years and who have had such standing in the legal profession to be qualified and to be appointed to the bench would normally submit an application to the JSC. The JSC, he said, would then examine the application. “If the application finds favour with the JSC, then the JSC makes a recommendation to the president for the appointment to be made”, he said.
