Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter written by former Attorney General Mr Anil Nandlall in respect of President Granger’s insistence that the positions for Chancellor and Chief Justice be advertised before a decision on the respective appointments are taken (‘Why are we recruiting judges from outside Guyana.’ SN, June 29).
Mr Nandlall seriously disagrees with President Granger’s stand and has advanced a number of reasons to show that the President is wrong. Among these is the fact that Guyana has a lot of competent lawyers to fill both positions and there is no need for the position to be advertised.
The next reason is that the current Chancellor and the Chief Justice have been acting for a long time, and only the Chancellor’s position is vacant; there is a Chief Justice. However I wish to point out that firstly, the substantive Chief Justice has been acting Chancellor, and if he is chosen to fill the position he has been acting in for several years then the position of Chief Justice will become vacant.
Secondly, while I agree with Mr Nandlall that Guyana has had over the years many qualified lawyers who have filled vacancies in high positions overseas, such as our late Chancellor Stoby, the fault in his reasoning lies in the fact that if the positions of Chancellor and Chief Justice are not advertised then prominent Guyanese lawyers overseas would not know of the vacancies to be filled. This in itself is denying Guyanese an opportunity to come back to Guyana to make positive contributions.
The next thing is that advertising the positions of Chancellor and Chief Justice even if it attracts non-Guyanese to apply, in itself will assist in raising the standard of competence and efficiency required to fill these vacancies.
Yours faithfully,
Jonas M F Coddett
Attoney-at-law