Today we may stay but if we don’t stay, so what?

Feb 28, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

On January 31, 2019, the Chief Justice (CJ) ruled that the no confidence vote (NCV) of December 12, 2018 was valid. There was no grey area in her ruling. The decision was a rejection of two arguments put forward by the state. – the vote of 33 against 32 was not a valid majority and Charrandass’s vote was an invalid ballot because he legally could not have voted because he is a foreign citizen.
Now here is a curious part of the decision by the CJ that has put the hold of power in a vortex and it has been swimming in that whirlpool since and it is the opinion of this columnist it will continue to stay swimming if the stay by Justice Rishi Persaud is not granted today. The CJ refused to grant a stay of her judgement.
What is a stay? It is a request to temporarily halt the enforcement of the decision laid down until appeals are exhausted. Let us use the most lucid, pellucid, graphic and unambiguous hypothetical example of what a stay means in a civil matter. Most Guyanese know there is a long stretch of road called the Ogle airport road. The passage ends at the entrance to the airport. That is where you turn to get into the compound of the airport.
Now at the end of that pathway, there is an obscure strip that runs at the back of the airport that was there for more than a hundred years built by the colonial governor. It is that strip the executives of the airport use to enter the compound.
One day some boys used that little unknown pathway and went fishing at the trench that is a public drainage system at back of the airport. The security of the airport stopped them telling them they are on private property.
One of the boys’ fathers sued management asking the court to rule that the invisible street is in fact public property that belongs to the citizenry. He argued that he has locus standi because he is a resident of Ogle. The judgement of the court is that the little pathway is public property accessible to the citizenry.
The airport’s lawyer gives notice of appeal and requests a stay of the decision. What does this mean? If the judge refuses the stay then persons other than those who work at Ogle can use the strip and the boys can access it to fish in the trench. The ruling is now law until finality in the other appeal tiers of the judicial system. If the judge grants the stay, the status quo remains – it is private property, a facility only for those who work at Ogle.
So the boys continue to fish accessing that roadway and other people now use it to get to the backdam of Ogle and homeless persons walk there to use the trench to swim. The appeal is heard and the court rules that it is indeed private land. The lawyer of the boy’s father addressed the court informing the judges that he is taking the matter to its logical conclusion in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). He asked for a stay in the decision because he strongly believes he will win in the CCJ. His argument was persuasive and a stay is granted.
What does the stay of the Court of Appeal means? The judgement will not be enforced and that public access remains until the CCJ rules. Despite the victory by the airport, the boys can continue to fish riding their bicycles on that strip. If the Court of Appeal doesn’t grant the stay, no one except airport officials can use the road.
This has been a very long example of what a stay means. I know what a stay is because when Juan Edghill lost in his bid to jail me for contempt of court over my column on his nasty politics, his lawyer, Ashton Chase asked for a stay. Justice Insanally told Chase; “Stay what? The Chief Justice in the NCV case did not grant a stay but the government continues as if there wasn’t a successful NCV.
What happens today if Justice Persaud does not grant a stay? Simple! The government will continue as it did after January 21, meaning that it did not call for elections to be held in three months’ time which the constitution stipulates. After the judgement of the CJ, the government said the status quo remains. If there is no stay today, the status quo remains. This is Guyana, after all.

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