Is this the most mysterious court decision in history?

Sep 19, 2014 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

To date, not one lawyer, former lawyer or former judge has written about a decision handed down by the Acting Chief Justice that on the surface gives immense credence to the ancient saying, ‘the law is an ass.” It is the case of the Town Clerk, Carol Sooba.
On a writ by Mr. Royston King, the CJ ruled that Sooba’s appointment was illegal. The CJ found that the Minister of Local Government did not have the authority to appoint Sooba. Then the CJ did what he is known in Guyana for doing – add a dimension to his ruling that confounds the mind, assaults commonsense, and leaves one to belief that the famous exclamation in the famous book by Charles Dickens – the law is an ass – is indeed a phenomenal perception.
The CJ ordered that Sooba could still remain in office and that a writ has to be filed against her authority in order to have her removed. There is no way any judge, any lawyer, any trained mind, should accept this decision. I know of no tradition in the world whereby a scholar or commentator or a citizen could be barred from publication of an opinion on a court decision or judge’s performance once libel and scandalous semantics are avoided. I intend to practice that right once I have a pen and a voice.
This columnist believes that the decision by the CJ to retain Sooba in the position of Town Clerk is one of the most flawed decisions in the history of jurisprudence in the region, and it makes a mockery of justice. My inflexible position is that the CJ’s order that Sooba can only be removed if a writ is filed for that purpose against Sooba herself is not based on any reading of the law. For me, it is a strange decision that cannot be explained in law.
A PPP supporter like Oscar Ramjeet can make the same asinine claim as he did against Carl Greenidge, by saying that my knowledge is limited because I am not a lawyer. I could be chauvinistic and say I am more trained in knowledge than Ramjeet and at more universities than him. You don’t need to be a lawyer to know when judges give questionable decisions.
In any case, I have no respect for Mr. Ramjeet as a person and as a lawyer, and it is my right to say so. Mr. Ramjeet retains the right to think whatever he wants about me.
What is interesting to note is that the writ against Sooba that the CJ advised should be done if Mr. King wants Sooba removed has been filed, but who pays for the legal service and who finances Sooba’s defence?
Since Sooba is the Town Clerk, then one would like to think that her office will provide her with legal services. If this is in fact the case, then the law is not only an ass but a large donkey.
This is my second column on this Sooba decision by Justice Ian Chang and until her illegal appointment is recognized by the court and until de facto (word used by the CJ himself) authority is dissolved, I will continue to write on the absurdity of this decision.
Which brings me to my friends in the non-existent Guyana Human Rights Association, and its leader, Mr. Mike Mc Cormack.
One of the most scathing attacks on a judge’s decision in this country was the GHRA’s analysis of Justice Insanally’s ruling in favour of miner, Joan Chang, over the Isseneru Village Council. The GHRA’s critique was acidic and hostile. It referred to the decision as shocking and lamented; “One can only wonder if the Judge in question has any idea of the Pandora’s Box of mischief she has opened.”
The GHRA went on; “This judgement flies in the face of justice and decency, to say nothing of commonsense.”
I am not a fan of Mr. Mike Mc Cormack, but I would like to transfer his description of Justice Insanally’s ruling to that of the CJ in the Sooba case. One wonders if Justice Chang is aware of the Pandora’s Box of political abuse he has opened. This judgement flies in the face of everything that is fundamental to the validity and integrity of the rule of law, to say nothing of democratic freedoms.
The GHRA did not call for a review of Justice Insanally’s cases, but I am asking for such a review of the CJ’s. We have at last a fully constituted Judicial Service Commission (JSC). I will ask that body to remove the CJ from the bench. My letter to the JSC will follow soon.

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Is this the most mysterious court decision in history?

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