Latest update November 22nd, 2024 1:00 AM
Jan 05, 2018 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
During the 2015 Elections Campaign, the present Government made multitudinous promises to the populace, particularly to the younger generation of Guyana. The youths were also encouraged to vote for APNU+AFC by the groups that campaigned. They dubbed it “Vote Like A Boss.” Those groups also alluded to the youths that the PPP is afraid of them, since they live together in harmony. The young people certainly helped to cause an election victory for the APNU+AFC.
Since assuming office, the APNU+AFC government has sidelined and lost sight of the young people. This is evident in almost all of their appointments.
We are now at a juncture where we need to confirm the appointments of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice. President David Granger, instead of appointing persons who would have served Guyana all their lives, is searching for people out of Guyana. According to the media, the person tipped to be the Chancellor of the Judiciary is Guyana-born Belizean Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin.
At present, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire are performing the functions of Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary and Acting Chief Justice, respectively. These two individuals are well respected throughout Guyana and are prominent in their field of work. They are persons who, after completing their studies, returned to Guyana and have become legal luminaries.
In addition, they are two women who have excelled in a profession dominated by men, reaching two dignified positions of the Judicial System in Guyana. Now, our president wants to overlook them and choose someone of his preference.
At the time when the president appointed two members of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), in accordance with Article 134 of the constitution, he stated that the Commission is a constitutionally established body, which holds the authority to make appointments and remove and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices.
“The ‘Commission’ is the guardian of judicial autonomy. It is the defender of its independence. It is the protector of its integrity and impartiality… The JSC upholds the independence of the judiciary. It ensures by its diligence that judicial appointees possess the attributes and embody the personal values, which make them capable and willing to resist being influenced by improper partisan and personal interests.”
The President also said that the JSC is intended to insulate judicial appointments from political partisanship and personal and other biases, while ensuring that recommendations for appointments of judicial officers flow from a dispassionate and objective process, and are based on clearly defined criteria applied in assessing the appropriateness of appointees.
“The JSC is the custodian of the values and standards of ethical and legal probity by judges and judicial officials. The JSC must zealously ensure that the personal conduct of judges does not bring the judicature into disrepute. It must preserve and protect the system’s integrity.”
Editor, it is my understanding that the JSC nominates persons to fill vacancies within the Judicial System, and that the President appoints those persons to fill the positions they were nominated for. However, for the substantive posts of Acting Chancellor and Chief Justice, the President appoints the nominees after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Article 127 of the Constitution states, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition”.
Mr. Granger, in keeping with the constitution, had consultations with the Leader of the Opposition before appointing the current acting Chancellor and acting Chief Justice. Why should the President search for others when he and the Opposition Leader already agreed to have these two legal luminaries? Why doesn’t he just confirm them in their positions? We may never know why.
Ashan Bacchus
Nov 22, 2024
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