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I do not accept that Mr. Ian Chang is the person for that high judicial appointment

Mar 18, 2012 Letters

 

 

Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter written by Mr. Timothy Jonas, President of the Guyana Bar Association (“It is time to confirm both the acting Chief Justice and the acting Chancellor,” SN, March, 6, 2012). I have a sincere appreciation for the courage of Mr. Jonas when, in his capacity as President of the Bar Association, I asked for a response from him to be published and he agreed. In this country where lawyers, doctors, professors and everybody else are happy to live in fear, Mr. Jonas was forthcoming
I asked him if he can recall a situation in the judiciary in this country where a libel was heard less than one year after papers were filed by the plaintiff.
He said it was very unusual and cited only one case – when anti-government critic Clem David was sued. President Jagdeo filed a libel affidavit against me and the Kaieteur News and it was assigned to a judge by the Chief Justice for hearing eleven months, three weeks after Mr. Jagdeo submitted his affidavit
It was an amazing but most suspicious development given the unspeakable and incredible backlog of civil cases some of which go to the heart of the existence of the rule of law in this country. One example should suffice. The then Opposition Leader’s challenge to the function of the Integrity Commission is yet to be heard. Dozens and dozens of libel papers are gathering dust on the shelves of the High Court
To create further suspicion, the Kaieteur News reported that on inquiry it was told that my lawyers requested an early hearing. To this Mr. Christopher Ram, one of the defence attorneys, replied and denied that request was made to the Chief Justice.
But let us assume that had happened, the Chief Justice simply did not have the space to manoeuvre. The backlog is so oceanic that he could not have ventilated Mr. Jagdeo’s grievance in less than a year.
The early hearing of the libel involving a sitting president went unprotested by this society. In this context I do appreciate the permission given by Mr. Jonas to quote him.
For me, it was a dangerous precedent that struck at the heart of legal fairness and equality before the law and the essence of justice. We don’t have a human rights body in this country so there was no commentary on what the Chief Justice did.
This country is self-destructive. It stays silent when egregious wrongs are done to the citizenry only to open its eyes when it is too late
Like Mr. Jonas, I have the right to have my opinion published. He calls for the confirmation of the Acting Chief Justice. I disagree. I do not accept that Mr. Ian Chang is the person that should hold that high judicial appointment given the decision he made in the timing of the hearing of the then President’s libel against the media. I would like to think it is my right to give an opinion on judicial appointments once I stay clear of personal attacks and character assault.
My problem with the Caribbean Court of Appeal is that it is staffed by judges who must be drawn from the contributing territory. I believe once a judge is elevated to the CCJ, the CCJ should invite assessments by stakeholders in that country from which the judge originates.
If evidence exists that he/she is of unsuitable quality then the CCJ should not pursue the elevation. There are some judges in Guyana whose assignment to the CCJ should never happen
Frederick Kissoon 

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