Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform Aubrey Norton has accused Minister of Governance Gail Teixeira of dissembling in her remarks to the United Nations Human Rights Committee regarding substantive appointments of Guyana’s Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice.
On Thursday last, Norton, at his party’s press conference, noted that the Opposition not only agreed to the substantive appointments of Justice Roxane George as Chief Justice and Justice Yonette Cummings as Chancellor of the Judiciary, but also wrote to President Irfaan Ali requesting a meeting to consider these appointments.
Teixeira, who is also responsible for parliamentary affairs, was on Tuesday pressed to provide answers on the independence of the judiciary and specifically the reason this country for well over a decade now, continues to be without a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Concerns were raised about executive interference and control in the appointment process for judges by Committee member José Manuel Santos Pais of Portugal. He said that such a state of affairs negatively affects the employment and other benefits of judges, including their security of tenure, even as he called for urgent constitutional reform in this area.
“It’s not enough just to say that you have independent agencies if the persons that run these agencies are appointed by those that should not appoint them,” he said.
Teixeira, responding virtually at the 140th Session of the Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Switzerland from her Georgetown office, said that Guyana’s judiciary was independent. On this point she sought to note that judges rule both in favour of, as well as against the government; advancing the position that irrespective of what constitutes the process of appointment, the real indicator of the judiciary’s independence is seen when one considers that the state also loses cases.
On the issue of the non-appointment of a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice, she said that the impasse continues to be a lack of agreement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition.
However, the Opposition Leader in rebuttal to this told the press that President Irfaan Ali had “arrogantly” responded that it is he who will determine when these processes will occur but to date has not seen it fit to initiate the process.
Norton remarked, “It is therefore disingenuous and wicked on the part of Gail Teixeira to suggest that the Opposition is responsible in any fashion for the non-appointment of these two distinguished ladies and the identification of Opposition representatives on commissions and state boards”.
He said the government has refused to make these appointments, citing the case of the appointment of the Opposition representative on the Investment Committee of the Natural Resource Fund where his party submitted a nominee.
He also noted that the Opposition submitted its nominations for the Constitutional Reform Commission and to date, there has been no appointment.
