Dear Editor,
Officers of the court – lawyers and others who work in the judicial system – like to repeat the mantra “there are consequences.” The astonishing irony is that, at least in Guyana’s case, the judicial system seems to shield its officers from any consequences even when their actions or failures to act (also actions!) are associated with interminable delays and endless postponements, conflicts of interest, possible derailment of proceedings and even the admission of clearly forged documents into evidence. When any or all of these actions result in costly appeals, court officers are even rewarded for their decisions, as the public continue to seek justice from a system that provides ample opportunities for the miscarriage of justice in Guyana. Fortunately, thankfully, there are many other examples of the judicial system working properly, and of court officers acting with courage and commitment to serving the public.
The story I have to tell has to do with the Guyana Presbyterian Church, but I am myself awaiting the conclusion of a case I brought against the Guyana Forestry Commission as far back as 1999. The Judge simply had to make a decision as the trial had concluded, but he didn’t, then he retired. Since then, I have heard nothing about this case. In the case of the Guyana Presbyterian Church (GPC), which has a fairly sophisticated governance structure or ‘church polity’ that is explicitly stated in its Constitution, a small but vocal and belligerent group went outside of every conceivable provision of the GPC Constitution to attempt to create a parallel but bogus National Synod. The implications of this attempt to create a parallel Synod were far-reaching and included an improper election of a (bogus) Board of Trustees alongside the duly elected Board, in which all of the extensive property and assets of the GPC were vested.
To its credit, the banking system recognised that something strange was afoot, but that led to the freezing of all the accounts of the Guyana Presbyterian Church. On the other hand, the judicial system, which alone can provide a Court Order that will cause the banks to unfreeze the accounts, seems not to appreciate how calamitous this situation is for the GPC. Three years after the matter was taken to court, all that the court allowed to happen was for the defense lawyer (representing the group that attempted to form a parallel Synod) to cross-examine two of the plaintiffs, who themselves were never examined. The third plaintiff was to be cross examined on the very day that the Judge announced that she was retiring and that the case would have to be re-assigned. Regarding physical property, the property rights of the GPC are now wholly insecure, and all of the property are up for grabs, literally. We have seen this happen, and can do nothing about it.
In another matter related to the GPC, a valuable piece of property in Blygezight Gardens, for which the church had transport, the judicial system facilitated the conveyancing of a second transport to another party on the basis of a clearly fraudulent Supreme Court order purportedly issued by the late Justice Jainarine Singh. According to a report “Realtor Arrested for Alleged Property Fraud (Guyana Chronicle, March 2021), this matter of a Supreme Court order purportedly issued by the Justice Jainarine Singh has come up elsewhere; and the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, “is aware of the matter and will be implementing measures to protect property owners from fraud.” Yet, in the case of the GPC, the judicial system allowed a series of ex-parte hearings which eventually led to the issuing of a second transport.
I do not believe that the GPC is the only entity to have suffered from weaknesses in our judicial system. Broadly speaking, there are two reasons why such weaknesses occur: the inadequacy of the body of legislation (and regulations), and inadequacy (in both quantity and quality) of the officers who operate in the judicial system. A third, but much more difficult-to-pin-down factor, is the inability of the judicial system to monitor itself, to hold its officers accountable, and to minimise the extent to which the system and the processes that are allowable under that system can be manipulated to yield judicial outcomes that on the surface satisfy standards of legality while completely subverting every possible notion of justice and fairness. We urgently need to invest in our judicial system and to provide it with adequate resources. Investing our oil revenues in fixing our judicial system will not yield short-term, highly visible benefits. But if we do not invest in our judicial system, we will fail in our efforts to achieve social and economic transformation.
Sincerely,
Thomas B. Singh
Director
University of Guyana GREEN Institute
& Senior Lecturer
Department of Economics
University of Guyana