Expressing concern at the absence of a Judicial Service Commission (JSC), President Irfaan Ali on Tuesday stated that “it is no fault of the government”.
Ali made the comment as he was being questioned on the yet-to-be confirmed appointments of a Chancellor and Chief Justice.
The President and his government have been frequently accused of holding up both the appointments at the top of the judiciary and of a new JSC.
Pressed for an update on the selection process at his press conference at State House on Tuesday, the president said “There is no update from the last time. You have to get the Judicial Service Commission in place…”
Ali however, stated that while the appointment of the commission is surrounded by “situations,” his government is pushing ahead to have it functioning. He did not say what the situations are surrounding the appointment of the commission, which is mandated among other things, to appoint judges and magistrates.
He noted that once the JSC comes into place, all other issues surrounding that will be resolved. The government has to ensure the establishment of the Public Service Commission before the JSC can be fully composed.
Last September, when pressed on the matter during an exclusive interview with Stabroek News, Ali sought to brush the matter aside.
“… So let me say very clearly, at the appropriate time the matter of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice will be brought on the agenda. You have a Chancellor. You have someone performing the duties of a Chancellor right now. How do you think I was sworn in? Who swore the President in? It is the Chancellor, the Acting Chancellor who swore… So I don’t know, it’s not like the country is without a Chancellor.”
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran SC, subsequently pointed out in his Sunday Stabroek column that there is no correlation between the appointments of either the Chief Justice (CJ) or Chancellor and the establishment of a JSC.
“If President Ali’s understanding of the constitutional provisions relating to the appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice, is that they have to be recommended by the JSC, or that there is a linkage between the existence of the JSC and the appointments, the view is misconceived,” Ramkarran asserted.
The government has been faced with this matter since taking office. The President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders, had called for substantive appointments before the end of 2022, but this plea fell on deaf ears.
Addressing the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) dinner in April last year, against the backdrop of many years of acting appointments to the top two judicial posts, Justice Saunders called for the substantive appointment of a Chancellor of the Judiciary and a Chief Justice before the end of the year.
The CCJ has expressed concern about this matter over the years. The last substantively appointed Chancellor of the Judiciary was Justice Desiree Bernard 17 years ago.
In his address to the GBA, Justice Saunders noted: “There is one significant blot on an otherwise impressive Guyanese legal and judicial landscape. For the country to have not appointed a Chancellor for 17 long years is very disappointing; likewise, to be without an appointed Chief Justice for several years. As the President of your final court, I believe I have a right and a duty publicly to express the view that Guyana should not let this year pass and not remedy this regrettable situation.”
The current Chancellor and CJ positions are held in acting capacities by Justices Yonette Cummings and Roxane George SC respectively, and for confirmed appointments both the President and the Opposition Leader have to agree. President Ali came under intense pressure in May last year to make the appointments when Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton signalled a change in his party’s previous position and expressed support for the substantive appointment of both Justices Cummings and George.
The opposition has since mounted legal action in relation to the substantive appointments. APNU+AFC is contending that President Ali is in “gross dereliction and abdication of his duty” and has no “lawful excuse” for not consulting with Opposition Leader Norton, on the substantive appointments of a Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Justice Damone Younge has fixed March 7th for ruling on this matter.
