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APNU+AFC files notice of appeal in second election case
Kaieteur News – Lawyers for the A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition yesterday filed a notice of appeal against Chief Justice (Ag) Roxane George -Wiltshire‘s decision to dismiss the second elections petition case.
Chief Justice (Ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire.
The notice of appeal filed, and seen by this newspaper, outlined that the Chief Justice (CJ) erred in law on several points in her consideration and determination of Petition #88 filed in the names of Claudette Thorne and Heston Bostwick.
Both, Thorne and Bostwick had argued that Section 22 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act (ELA) and Order #60 of 2020, otherwise known as the Recount Order, are unconstitutional, and thus resulted in breaches and violations by GECOM in its conduct of the elections.
As such, the lawyers contend in their appeal, among other things, that the trial judge erred in law when she ruled that, “Section 22 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act 2000 and Order 60 made thereunder were not in violation of the Constitution of Guyana…”
In their request for the Court of Appeal to set aside the CJ’s ruling , the lawyers noted that Justice George-Wiltshire, SC erred in law when she ruled that the said Order 60 was intra vires of the said Constitution of Guyana by virtue of conferment of powers under Article 162 (1) (b) and said Section 22 [of the ELA]…”
“The Learned Judge erred in law when she ruled that the Appellants did not produce evidence in the said Petition, in that, being a Petition which claimed that the said March 2 Elections was not lawfully conducted, there was no need for production of any evidence except what was presented, namely, the Declarations as per Regional Returning Officers’ 1 to 10 and the Recount,” the appeal document also pointed out.
Further it noted that the judge erred in law when she ordered that the Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs) from the March 2020 General and Regional Elections remain in the custody of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Judicature until all the cases have been completed.
The appeals follow the April 25, 2021 decision by the CJ to discard the only remaining election petition case filed on behalf of the APNU+AFC Party to challenge the legality of the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections. Justice George-Wiltshire had dismissed the case, ruling inter alia that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) acted in full compliance with the Constitution of Guyana and electoral laws in its conduct of elections. The parties had argued that the results of the elections were to be deemed invalid due to serious non-compliance with the Constitution of Guyana and electoral laws as regards the holding of the elections.
However, in her ruling, the Chief Justice (Ag) noted that neither Section 22 of the ELAA nor Order #60 is outside the realm of the Constitution. Justice George-Wiltshire held that the intent of Order #60 was to resolve irregularities, discrepancies, and anomalies occurring in the elections process and to determine a final credible count.
She noted that Section 22 is meant as an aid to the process to permit a determination of a result. The judge stressed that it does not permit usurpation of the High Court’s jurisdiction under Article 163 [of the Constitution] at all.
The Chief Justice (CJ) had previously dismissed Petition #99 filed on behalf of Monica Thomas and Brenan Nurse in January 2021, for non-compliance in relation to effecting of service on former President David Granger. The petitioners had served Granger with the documents too late. An appeal of that decision comes up on June 14, 2021, at the Guyana Court of Appeal, following a notice filed in February of this year.
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