Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo today told a Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ conference in Georgetown that an independent judiciary is the bedrock of the nation’s stability and this is fully recognised by the APNU+AFC government.
The PM also used the opportunity to apprise the conference of Guyana’s concerns over the Venezuelan border controversy.
The PM’s address follows:
ADDRESS BY THE HON. MOSES V. NAGAMOOTOO
ACTING PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER OF THE COOPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA
To The Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association Conference
Georgetown, Guyana,
Monday, September 19, 2016
It is my distinct pleasure to greet you this morning and to extend a very warm welcome to all our overseas guests, to our beautiful country. As the programme of today’s events would have informed you, His Excellency President David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, should have been addressing you this morning. Regrettably, His Excellency has had to travel to New York to represent Guyana’s cause on a matter of grave importance to our country before the United Nations, and His Excellency has asked me to convey to you his deep regrets at his inability to be here with you this morning but offers his good wishes for a successful conference.
I have had an opportunity of looking at this conference’s agenda for the next three days and I have noted the sub-themes for the various sessions at which you will be engaged. Topics such as “Environmental law and Sustainable Development”, “Domestic Violence”, “Alternative Dispute Resolution” and “The Rights of Indigenous People” are matters which are given key focus in our governance framework. These topics are extremely relevant and important, and so I offer warm congratulations to the Commonwealth Judges’ and Magistrates’ Association on these choices.
Additionally, let me say, that I took particular note also of the Central theme of this conference:
“The Judiciary as Guarantors of the Rule of Law”. In the democracies which constitute the Commonwealth, that guarantee provides a measure of comfort to our people and is an assurance of freedom and stability.
Since my government’s assumption of office in May 2015, we have made a conscious and determined effort at giving recognition and meaning to the Declaration adopted on the 24th September, 2012 by the United Nations General Assembly at the High Level meeting on the Rule of Law which reaffirmed that:
“Human rights, the Rule of Law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing and that they belong to the universal and indivisible core values and principles of the United Nations.”
Our government is conscious of the distinction that must be made between “rule by law” whereby government erroneously places itself above the law, and the “Rule of Law”, which implies that everyone in society, including the government, is bound by the law. It is on the latter that we have rested the structure of government, recognizing that constitutional limits on the exercise of governmental authority, which is a key feature of any democracy, require adherence to the Rule of Law. Indeed, the quality of governance is defined by observance of the rule of law. Good governance depends on it.
In recent times, our Constitutional reformers and law-makers have adopted liberalconcepts in the approach to governance. First we recognize that there should be clear limits to the power of the Executive or Government. We recognize that government exercises its authority through publicly disclosed laws that are adopted and enforced by independent judiciary with established and accepted procedures. We are committed to the principle of equality before the law, and that the law must apply equally to the government and the governed. We recall Lord Denning’s reference in GOURIET V UNION of POST OFFICE WORKERS (1977) to a statement attributed to Sir Thomas Fuller in 1733:
“Be you never so high, the law is above you.”
And further, we ensure protection of the rights of our citizens.
It is in relation to the latter that our government has repeatedly and publicly declared that our government is unshaken in the belief that in our state structure, the judiciary should (to the fullest extent of the meaning that can be given to the phrase), Mr Chancellor, be independent. Our recognition is that an independent judiciary is the strongest guarantee for the protection of the rights of our citizens. We believe that an independent judiciary is the bedrock of the stability of our nation. We believe that only an independent judiciary could be the guarantors of the rule of law.
So, within this focus and within this framework, our government has legislatively created the structure to give effect to true and meaningful judicial independence.
Of course, I would not let the opportunity go by without saying that our judges, in their adjudicatory role, are not in any way subject to any form of improper, inappropriate or unwarranted governmental influence. That is a matter of which we in this present administration are exceptionally proud, and I make this claim without fear of contradiction. While we respect the separation of Powers, we promote comity among the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
But as the Chancellor remarked a moment ago, not only does our judiciary enjoyindependence when it decides issues between citizen and citizen or between citizen and the state, it also has independence over its administrative machinery, its registries and their personnel. More importantly however, as you heard earlier from His Honour the Chancellor, our government by legislative intervention, recognized the judiciary as a constitutional agency and made provision for its financial independence by ensuring that the State provides adequate resources for the judiciary to perform its functions. In sum, that the judiciary of Guyana enjoys adjudicatory, institutional and financial independence may be a first for the Commonwealth Caribbean, a recent achievement since our assumption of office.
Excellencies, Your Honour, Your Worship:
As I near the end of my presentation, I crave your kind indulgence to raise a matter of national importance with this distinguished gathering of legal minds here this morning. It is a matter which has caused His Excellency President David Granger to be away from this ceremony this morning.
Our oil rich neighbour to the west, Venezuela, is making claim to a significant part of our country, in which huge oil deposits have been found. I do not wish to burden or detain you with the details of the history of this spurious claim, which Venezuela, nevertheless offensively and aggressively pursues, save to say that the boundaries between Venezuela and Guyana, were identified and settled as a result of the decision of an international tribunal established to do just that since 1899.
It is Guyana’s contention that Venezuela’s aggressive stance towards us and its past incursions into our territory are violative of international law and norms. For us, here in Guyana, there is much appeal in the words of Professor William Bishop who, writing in the Michigan Law Review, in an article entitled “The International Rule of Law” in answering the question “What do we mean by the International Rule of Law?”, explained:
“Without precise definition, I believe we could agree that the concept includes reliance on law as opposed to arbitrary power in international relations; the substitution of settlement by law for settlement by force and the realization that law can and should be used as in instrumentality for the cooperative international furtherance of social aims, in such fashion as to present and promote the values of freedom and human dignity for individuals.”
After 50 years of Independence, Guyana deserves a better life. At last, Guyana is on the threshold of a prosperous and exciting future. We can do without this threat confronting us as a border controversy. We are pursuing, as Professor William Bishop has espoused: “settlement by law”. Guyana has proposed to the United Nations a juridical settlement, and this is what has taken our President to the United Nations this week.
I have raised this matter with you, our distinguished visitors, because you represent a wide spread of Commonwealth jurisdictions and for our cause, we seek your solidarity and support. It is a matter that touches the international rule of law.
In closing, I can do no better than repeat the words of Sir Thomas Bingham who writing in his book “The Rule of Law” noted:
“The concept of the rule of law is not fixed for all time. Some countries do not subscribe to it fully, and some subscribe only in name, if that. Even those who do subscribe to it find it difficult to apply all its precepts quite all the time. But in a world divided by differences of nationality, race, colour, religion and wealth, it is one of the greatest unifying factors, perhaps the greatest, the nearest we are likely to approach to a universal secular religion. It remains an ideal, but an ideal worth striving for, in the interests of good government and peace, at home and in the world at large.”
I trust that your deliberations over the next few days will be meaningful and fruitful. Please take some time to experience the warmth and hospitality of our people and the natural beauty of our country. On my own behalf and on behalf of the Government and people of Guyana I wish this conference every success.