The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has set Tuesday July 19th at 10:00 am for the hearing of the appeal filed by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC who are challenging the Guyana Court of Appeal’s ruling that it has jurisdiction to hear the appeal of the dismissal of the Opposition APNU+AFC’s election petition which challenged the results of the March 2nd 2020 general elections.
Noting that election petitions are to be heard expeditiously, Justice Jacob Wit who chaired this morning’s case management conference (CMC) stressed the need for timelines to be strict and adhered to.
Once the hearings are completed, the Judge said that the Court will thereafter move to render its ruling expeditiously as well.
The elections petition was filed by Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse.
On December 21st, last, the local court of appeal in a majority 2-1 decision ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the appeal of the petition. Chancellor Cummings-Edwards and Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory concurred with each other, while Justice of Appeal, Rishi Persaud dissented.
Acting Chief Justice (CJ) Roxane George had previously thrown out the petition, after finding that presidential candidate of the APNU+AFC, David Granger was not served on time.
Thomas and Nurse are contending in their petition that the elections were unlawfully conducted and/or that the results (if lawfully conducted) were affected or might have been affected by unlawful acts or omissions. They nonetheless argue that from those polls it is Granger who should be declared the duly-elected President of Guyana.
