On 18 June 2019, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) handed down its decisions on two matters that were referred to it for a ruling. The first relates to the validity of the 21 December 2018 vote of no confidence in the Government. The Speaker of the National Assembly had ruled that the vote was successfully carried since 33 out of 65 members constituting the Assembly supported the motion. The intervention of the High Court was sought on the grounds that (i) one Member of Parliament (MP) voting in favour of the motion is a dual citizen; (ii) his vote was invalid because the Constitution prohibits a person having dual citizenship to be an MP; and (iii) by virtue of the invalidity of his vote, the no confidence motion failed.
The Chief Justice, who presided over the first appeal, held that the no confidence vote was validly carried. The intervention of the Guyana Court of Appeal was then sought, and by majority decision, the court held that the approval of 34 MPs was needed, and not 33. The matter found its way to the CCJ which overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling and re-instated that of the Chief Justice.
The second decision relates to the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) which the lower courts in Guyana found to be in order. The CCJ, however, ruled that the procedure used to appoint the Chairman was flawed and unconstitutional.