Chief Justice to rule next week on challenge to house-to-house order

Lenox Shuman

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire will rule next week on the challenge brought by Lenox Shuman, Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party, to the validity of the order signed by former Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM) Chair-man James Patterson for the conduct of the national house-to-house registration exercise.

The Chief Justice made the announcement following the conclusion of arguments before her yesterday afternoon. The ruling is to be handed down next Friday.

During the three-hour hearing, Shuman’s attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, rejected arguments advanced by counsel for the Commission that the “de facto doctrine” (not necessarily by legal right) essentially saved all decisions made by Patterson although the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) would eventually declare his appointment void.