High Court finds Guyana’s President did not violate constitution
A High Court judge concluded Wednesday that Guyana President Irfaan Ali did not breach the constitution when he appointed the Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Justice Damone Younge asked Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton to promptly negotiate appointments with President Ali in accordance with the Constitution.
“No further delay and excuse will countenance,” Justice Younge declared, citing the decades-long non-appointment of the officeholders to the two top judicial offices.
“This court finds that given the particular circumstances have tended to this case delay in initiating the process for the substantive appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice by His Excellency the President under Article 127(1) is not a breach of the Constitution,” she said.
The High Court found that then-opposition leader Joseph Harmon had refused to consult with the President and only after Norton became Opposition Leader did he express interest in specific appointments.
The judge noted that Norton’s attorney Roysdale Forde had formally informed the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, that the Opposition Leader would support the substantive appointment of Justices Yonette Cummings and Roxane George-Wiltshire to the posts of Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice.
“The name parties must follow the Constitution to meet these appointments. “This necessarily requires active engagement, mutuality and sincere receptivity by the Constitutional actors,” the court said, adding that the Head of State should fulfill his previous promise to consult to avoid additional delay.
“Therefore, by all counts, the way is now clear for this engagement to commence and no further delay or excuses ought to be countenanced never responded has said that the President has repeatedly stated his intention and commitment to comply with all his Constitutional duties.
“In this Court’s view, there would be no better way that the President can demonstrate this unassailable saleable devotion and commitment and his duties than by acting with alacrity to initiate the process for the eventual substantive appointment of Chancellor and Chief Justice,” she said.
Justice Younge stated such a significant delay in such appointments undermined judicial independence.
“The absence of substantive appointments to the offices of Chancellor and Chief Justice, particularly for the protracted length of time that we have experienced in Guyana, fails to insulate the judiciary from attacks on its independence as provided for in article 128 of the Constitution, which threatens the very fabric of our thriving democracy,” she said.
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President, Justice Adrian Saunders, called the Chancellor and Chief Justice’s non-appointment a stain on Guyana’s judicial landscape in April 2022.
“Guyanese law and justice have one major flaw. Having no Chancellor or Chief Justice for 17 years is frustrating. “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,” he told a GBA dinner.
Sir Dennis Byron, his predecessor, similarly criticized the non-appointments, saying protracted acting appointments “risk” the guarantee of an independent and impartial judiciary.
“The ingloriousness of our country’s unique position has not escaped the notice of jurists in the region, particularly those of the presidents of our apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice,” Justice Young noted in her opinion.