Overdue by some six years, the long-awaited reconstitution of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was realised yesterday afternoon with the swearing-in of its members.
Taking the oath of office before President Irfaan Ali; were acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, acting Chief Justice Roxane George and Chairman of the Public Service Commission Manniram Prashad.
In accordance with Article 198 of the Constitution, these are the ex-officio members; with the Chancellor who sits as Chairman of the Commission.
Chancellor Cummings-Edwards, Chief Justice George and Prashad all took their oaths of office before Ali at the Office of the President.
The other members appointed to the Commission were retired Chancellor of the Judiciary Carl Singh, and retired justice Beasraj Singh Roy.
The life of the Commission is for three years, commencing from yesterday’s date.
Following many failed commitments by the Ali administration since it assumed office in August of 2020 to have the Commission re-established, the president announced at a press conference on Wednesday that the way was being paved for it to be done.
Against this background, he announced that the Public Service Commission (PSC)—whose chairman has to be a member of the JSC—would be reconstituted before the end of this week.
That Commission was in fact reconstituted on Thursday.
He had, however, stopped short of making any commitment as to when the JSC would have been reconstituted.
The establishment of the PSC is a prerequisite to the establishment of the JSC—as the key members comprising the JSC apart from the Chancellor and Chief Justice—is the Chairman of the PSC.
The JSC’s remit includes the power to make appointments, to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting within the offices of Commissioner of Title, Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Magistrate, Registrar of the High Court, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds, among others.
The Commission also advises the President on the appointment of judges, with the exception of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice.
Members of the legal fraternity, including the Chancellor herself, had bemoaned the sloth in having the Commission reconstituted; underscoring how its absence impeded the efficient running of the judiciary.
Ali in his address at the swearing-in ceremony yesterday acknowledged the deficiency posed by the shortage of judges, stating that the newly-appointed Commission will now be able to address those shortcomings.
“Our judicial system is not without its challenges. We are woefully short of our full complement of judges and magistrates. This naturally has placed greater burdens on our existing pool of judicial officers. Now that the JSC is in place, it is anticipated that some of those burdens will be lifted, thereby allowing for smooth turning of the wheels of justice,” he said.
In his column in the Sunday Stabroek of July 2nd, 2023, Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran described the justice system as being in a state of collapse, specifically alluding to the absence of the JSC which he noted impedes its efficient functioning.
In agreement with him was President of the Guyana Bar Association, Attorney-at-Law Ronald Burch-Smith, who said that Ramkarran’s description of the justice system “being on the verge of collapse,” was no exaggeration.
He, too, had credited the deficiencies to the absence of the JSC.
On January 10th this year, in some of the bluntest language that she had delivered on the subject, the Chancellor made a stirring plea for the urgent reconstituting of the JSC and the appointment of the required number of judges.
Speaking at the ceremonial opening of the Law Year 2023, Justice Cummings-Edwards said: “You have heard the call for more resources, human resources in particular. We need more judges! We need the Judicial Service Commission to be established ASAP – as soon as possible. We are facing increased caseloads. Judges are now overburdened, they are exhausted, they are nearly worn out and they are, in some cases, burned out”.
Perhaps in anticipation of more empty promises, the Chancellor went on to add: “We do not need the rhetoric. We need more labourers. We need the judges. We’ve been hearing time and again about the JSC is soon to be established. We would like to see the implementation and the establishment of the Judicial Service Commission.”
At yesterday’s ceremony, Ali sought to impress upon the audience, what he described as being his government’s continuous support for the advancement of the work of the JSC and the judiciary as a whole.
Underscoring the independence of the judicial arm of government, and its instrumental role in upholding democracy, the Head of State challenged the newly-appointed members to safeguard the independence and integrity of the judiciary.
