As he had previously hinted, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has filed a court action challenging the appointments of the chairs of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Integrity Commission.
Norton’s contention is that President Irfaan Ali did not “meaningfully consult” him before making the appointments as is required by law.
In his fixed date application (FDA), Norton (the Applicant) argues that the President appointed Patrick Findlay as Chairman of the PSC without first meaningfully consulting him as is required by Article 210 (1) (a) of the Constitution.
Further, he said that President Ali also appointed Chandra Gajraj as Chair of the Integrity Commission without meaningfully consulting him in accordance with Section 3 (4) of the Integrity Commission Act.
Norton is arguing that the appointments are “illegal, null, void and of no legal effect” and wants the Court to so declare.
He also wants the Court to declare that the appointments of Dr. Kim Kyte-Thomas, Imaam Mohamed Ispahani Haniff, Pandit Hardesh Tewari and Reverend Wayne Bowman as members of the Integrity Commission were done without proper consultation and are therefore illegal.
Norton advances that Findlay’s and Gajraj’s appointments and the appointment of the entire Integrity Commission were unilaterally done by the President, since he (Norton) was not “afforded a reasonable opportunity to express a considered opinion on the subject of the Consultation.”
He says that the PSC was also not constitutionally constituted.
Norton is arguing that in those circumstances, Findlay and Gajraj cannot lawfully exercise any of the functions or powers vested in the Chairs of the Police Service and Integrity Commissions respectively.
Norton wants the Court to declare what he calls the President’s “termination of the consultation process,” as being “arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional.”
He also wants a declaration that the life of the PSC and the chairmanship of the last Commission expired on August 9th, 2021 and that there is therefore no Chairman.
The Opposition Leader is asking the Court to quash both Findlay’s and Gajraj’s appointments and to declare all actions so far taken by them on behalf of the respective Commissions, illegal and of no force and effect.
He also wants an injunction prohibiting them both from exercising the functions of the Commissions, until his action has been fully heard and determined.
He also wants an order quashing the appointment of every member of the Integrity Commission and an injunction prohibiting them from acting on behalf of it.
Pending the hearing and determination of his application, the Opposition Leader also wants an order “staying any process of meaningful consultation.”
He is also asking for costs and any further order the Court deems just to grant.
Norton is being represented by attorneys Roysdale Forde SC and Selwyn Pieters.
Early last month, Norton had said that he would be approaching the Court, to seek an interpretation of the term “meaningful consultation,” even as he then challenged President Ali’s appointment of the PSC.
On May 31st, Ali swore in Findlay, Mark Conway, Hakeem Mohammed and Ernesto Choo-a-Fat to the PSC.
Appointments were also made to the Integrity Commission.
The move was made less than an hour after Norton, issued a warning at his weekly press conference that he would take legal action, if the government went ahead and named members of constitutional commissions in the absence of “meaningful consultation.”
Guyana’s constitution stipulates that the Chair of the Police Service Commission is to be appointed by the President after “meaningful consultation” with the Leader of the Opposition.
The two leaders met for the first time on May 13th, 2022, after which they issued a joint statement committing to meeting again within a week. However, that meeting did not happen within the stipulated timeline and the meeting was rescheduled for Monday, May 30 but Norton was unable to attend the meeting owing to prior commitments.
Following the first meeting, Norton requested the curriculum vitae of the proposed appointees to the commissions along with additional information. The CVs were supplied to him followed by a back and forth between the government and himself relating to the additional information he was seeking.
Norton is adamant that the president must present the grounds on which the nominees were selected in order for an informed decision to be made.
However, the government, through Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira, has contended that President Ali is not mandated to provide any grounds and that he has complied with the constitution by providing the CVs of the appointees.
