Judicial complaints should be directed to Secretary in absence of JSC Board

Judicial complaints should be directed to Secretary in absence of JSC Board – Former Attorney General

Jun 07, 2019 News

In the absence of an active board of the Judicial Service Commission, (JSC), litigants and members of the public can lodge their judicial complaints with the secretary of the Board located within the office of the Court of Appeal.
Guyana‘s Constitution mandates that there shall be a JSC which has the authority to make appointments and to remove and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices. The JSC has however been absent for close three years now.
Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall has been among those critical of Government‘s slothfulness in appointing a new oversight body. Nandlall had noted that the absence of the Commission creates a constitutional vacuum.
However, since the Board of the JSC has not been functional for some time, Nandlall says persons with grievances against members of the judiciary will have to lodge their complaints with the Commission’s Secretary.
“The complaint will have to be addressed to the secretary of the JSC which is at the Court of Appeal.”
Commenting on the issue last January, President David Granger told the media that the Judicial Service Commission is an indispensible element of Guyana’s legal framework.
“The ‘Commission’ is the guardian of judicial autonomy. It is the defender of its independence. It is the protector of its integrity and impartiality.
Granger had promised to have a new board of the JSC in place before the end of the month.
President Granger had said that he had been in discussion with the relevant officials on the matter.
He said the JSC is intended to insulate judicial appointments from political partisanship, and personal and other biases, while ensuring that its recommendations for the appointment of judicial officers flow from a dispassionate and objective process.
“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,” the President added.
The life of the membership of the last JSC expired September 30, 2017.

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