Cabinet will consider a list of eight nominees for the Governing Board of the Deeds and Commercial Registry Autho-rity at its next meeting, the Attorney General’s Chambers announced last evening.
Those nominated are attorney Christine McGowan, who has been recommended as Chairperson; Zanna Frank, Deputy Registrar of Deeds; Nicole Prince, Registrar of the Commercial Registry; Gillian Pollard from the Ministry of Finance; Aretha Henry from the Ministry of Communities; Sharon Small, of the Guyana Bar Association; Kumar Doraisami from the Guyana Association of Legal Practitioners; and Major General (Rtd) Norman McLean from the Private Sector.
A press release from the Attorney General’s Chambers stated that the other three representatives of the Board await the passage of the proposed Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017. They will include the representatives from the Ministry of Business and the Guyana Revenue Authority, and the Chief Valuation Officer.
The previous Chairperson, the release stated, was not reappointed as she is no longer a Compliance Officer at a local Bank.
According to the release, the list of nominees has been submitted to Cabinet for its next meeting for its approval. Cabinet meetings are usually held on Tuesday.
It was stated that the tenure of the last board expired in May, 2016 and “the delay in constituting a new board was solely as a result of the amendment bill being laid before Parliament.
The board, it was stated, will be fully constituted after the Bill is passed in the National Assembly on June 15, 2017.
The board, the release explained, is an independent body established to promote the proper and efficient performance of the functions of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority. It is expected to operate for a period of two years.
Compel
Justice Nareshwar Harnanan on April 19 had ordered AG Basil Williams SC to appoint the board.
The judge’s ruling was based on an application by former AG Anil Nandlall for an order nisi of mandamus to compel Williams to appoint the board.
In his application to the court, Nandlall had noted that the previous board’s tenure expired on or about June, 2016, it was never re-appointed by the minister in accordance with the Act.
Nandlall said that this and all omissions to perform duties imposed by the Act constituted multiple breaches, misfeasance in public office and abuse of power and conflict with the policy of the Act.
As a consequence, he said there was inefficiency in the services rendered at the registries, which had an adverse impact on his practice and his ability to competently and diligently discharge his duties to clients.
In his affidavit, dated March 6, 2017, Nandlall also said he had written to Williams, calling upon him to discharge his obligations under the Act and to appoint members to the board but never received a response.
Nandlall recently said that the AG was currently in breach of the court order and that a letter had already been dispatched to him informing him that he was in contempt of court and that unless he takes steps to comply with the order, contempt proceedings would be filed against him.
Williams has appealed the ruling, contending that the judge erred by not attaching weight to the proposed amendment bill and by seeking to “dictate” to him (Williams) a timeline for the appointment of the board.
The Notice of Appeal, prepared by Senior Legal Advisor Judy Stuart, said in part that both Justice Harnanan and Justice Brassington Reynolds committed specific illegalities in their rulings on Nandlall’s application.
Justice Reynolds was the first to hear the case and on March 8 he granted a provisional order.
Stuart, in the Notice of Appeal, asked that the ruling be set aside on a number of grounds including that Justice Harnanan erred and misdirected himself in law when he refused to attach any weight to the fact that the AG was proactive in seeking to have a more efficacious board by seeking to strengthen and widen it through the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority (Amendment), which is awaiting passage through the National Assembly. It was stated too that both Justice Reynolds and Justice Harnanan committed a specific illegality when by their rulings they purported to “dictate” to Williams, Cabinet and the government their own timelines to constitute the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority Board in contravention of the doctrine of the separation of powers. It also stated that their rulings failed to consider that the expired board was the inaugural board and that reconstituting it involved a question of re-appointment and that they failed to consider that the reappointment of members was at the discretion of Williams and not mandatory.
It is unclear if the AG intends to withdraw the appeal.
