Latest update December 18th, 2024 5:45 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

NOT MANY FOREIGN JUDGES WILL BE INTERESTED

Jul 09, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Some people simply do not get it. It is not that there is anything wrong with advertising judicial positions. Indeed advertising these posts allows for the best persons to be selected.
The point is what use is advertising positions going to be when the Constitution of Guyana provides that there has to be agreement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition in so far as the appointment of the Chancellor is concerned. There is already a substantive Chief Justice so that position will not become vacant unless the substantive holder of the office is upgraded to Chancellor.
All the arguments about the need for the government to advertise the positions are therefore premature. You cannot advertise the position of Chief Justice unless you fill the position from the incumbent. To fill that position you will need the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.
The Constitution is silent on what is to happen should there be agreement. That was apparently either not contemplated or the existing provision was intended to ensure that there had to be compromise somewhere along the line.
In any event it is not the government that is required to advertise for any positions. It is the Judicial Service Commission. And the JSC has in the past advertised for positions of Judges. These Judges are not handpicked. They have to apply for the position after it has been advertised and they have to go through the usual process.
So there is no issue with advertising. It is done at present. But in the case of the appointment of the top two judicial positions in the country, there has to be a meeting of minds between the President and the Leader of the Opposition. In the past, there has been no agreement nor has there been an agreement on how to break the deadlock. As a result we probably have the two longest acting Chief Justice and Chancellor in the world.
No one is trying to deny foreign jurists from being chosen for these two positions. No one is also trying to deny overseas based Guyanese jurists from being eligible. The problem is that not many Guyanese who are judges overseas are going to come back to Guyana to work as judges for a mere US$5,000 per month. That may seem large in Guyana but it is chicken feed to those judges who currently work overseas. They earn far more than that and they are not likely to come back to Guyana to work for that sort of cash.
For argument sake, what happens if the Judicial Service Commission decides to advertise the position of Chancellor and the person acting at present emerges as the best choice? There is no guarantee that the Leader of the Opposition and the President will find agreement and therefore the person who would have been deemed to be the best suited would be unable to take up the position.
The best option would be for the persons who are acting as Chancellor and Chief Justice to be confirmed. It makes a mockery of the system when after acting for such a long time these persons cannot be confirmed. And there is only one reason why these persons cannot be confirmed, and that is because there has never been agreement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition on the confirmation of these two distinguished jurists.
The situation is not likely to change and therefore these two men are likely to continue with their acting appointments until they both reach the age of retirement.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

 

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Clarendon College too good for Dolphin as Annai Sec’ holds Speyside College to 4-all draw

Clarendon College too good for Dolphin as Annai Sec’ holds Speyside...

Dec 18, 2024

-KFC Goodwill Int’l Football Series heats up today Kaieteur News- The Petra Organisation’s fifth Annual KFC International Secondary Schools Goodwill Football Series intensified yesterday with two...
Read More
Glasgow excided for MLS journey with Chicago Fire

Glasgow excided for MLS journey with Chicago Fire

Dec 18, 2024

Matthews slams unbeaten 85 as Windies Women hammer India by nine wickets to level series

Matthews slams unbeaten 85 as Windies Women...

Dec 18, 2024

No room to breathe as five more teams to advance to quarters tomorrow

No room to breathe as five more teams to advance...

Dec 18, 2024

Sammy to be appointed as West Indies Senior Men’s Head Coach for all formats

Sammy to be appointed as West Indies Senior...

Dec 17, 2024

Bangladesh hold nerve to defend 148 and take 1-0 T20I series lead over West Indies

Bangladesh hold nerve to defend 148 and take 1-0...

Dec 17, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]