‘More blows for Dharamlall’

Dec 28, 2021 News

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– Women Lawyers, GPSU slam Govt. minister over disparaging remarks against judiciary

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL), have joined in the condemnation of Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, for his attacks on the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Appellate Judge, Dawn Gregory.

Minister Dharamlall in a Facebook post last week, called for the Judges to be “defrocked,” describing them as biased, after they ruled that the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear an appeal in an election petition Case.
Several other organizations, individuals and political parties have already condemned the Minister who remains defiant.
“The GPSU is shocked with the unprofessional and unethical conduct of the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, who on Tuesday December 21, 2021 bluntly accused two female Court of Appeal Judges of bias and suggested that they be defrocked,” GPSU said in a statement.”
The trade union said, “as a member of the Executive, he is obviously unenlightened with the demarcations that are entrenched in the Constitution of Guyana, that is, Executive, Legislative and Judiciary vis a vis the separation of powers.”
According to the GPSU, “in his comments, he clearly intended to undermine the esteem, integrity and credibility of the Judiciary as a whole in the eyes of the right-thinking public.”
The GPSU said, Dharamlall’s subsequent attempt to edit his original comments is a manifestation of deceit.
“The GPSU has concluded that his conduct is inexcusable and should not go unpunished by the Head of the Executive. If not, the right-thinking public would construe his action as having been done with full consent of the Executive, of which he is a part. One cannot overlook that this comment was directed at two of the most prominent female members of the Guyanese Society and the reflection it would definitely have on the way women can be treated in Guyana, without any form of consequence.”
For its part, GAWL expressed “its profound concern at the recent remarks of the Minister of Local Government. In his attempt to convey his apparent displeasure at a recent ruling of two of the judges of `the Court of Appeal of Guyana, who are sitting on a panel in an elections-related matter.

PURPOSEFUL ATTACK
“It is apposite to note that there was a purposeful attack on specifically Honourable Madam, Justice Yonnette Cummings, Acting Chancellor and thus head of the Judiciary, and Madam Justice Dawn Gregory, in a manner that, apart from being clearly disrespectful of office and person, was also sexist in its intent,” the body stated.
While it is any citizen’s prerogative to be in agreement or disagreement with any court decision, it must at all times be borne in mind, that decisions are made by the court based on its interpretation of the law. It must also be remembered that the principle of separation of powers makes it imperative that the judiciary be regarded and allowed to be independent.”
As such, “remarks such as those which are the subject matter of this statement can therefore only be regarded in this context to have been deliberately uttered to diminish the judiciary and those particular judges, in the eyes of the public. It is of note that notwithstanding the redaction by Mr. Dharamlall of some of the offending remarks, there has been no apology.
The body said, “GAWL trusts that going forward there is no other occasion when such injudicious utterances have to be addressed, and that boundaries with respect to our judiciary are truly honoured and not in the breach.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker, and Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, also knocked Dharamlall for his comments.
In a facebook post, Shuman said, “I have noted the ruling of the Court of Appeal and the dissenting ruling of one of our Learned Jurist and express my gratitude to the Judges.”
According to Shuman, “it is a matter of national importance that such a case is heard to uncover all the details and discrepancies that occurred in the Elections of 2020 so that we may find ways to correct them. To take Electoral Law Reform without a true understanding of the events that occurred in 2020 stands to do our entire reform process and our nation an injustice.”
He said electoral reform is already in a process that starts from the midsection instead of starting with constitutional reform as the initiating process that addresses the issues at the root.
To this end, he portends “I continue to have confidence in the Justice system in Guyana with our apex court as the CCJ and ask that all citizens respect the ruling of our learned Judges in such a sensitive matter.”
At this juncture, the veil over elections 2020 is the “only thing” that needs to be defrocked,” Shuman wrote.
Last Tuesday, the Court of Appeal, in a majority decision ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear an appeal challenging the decision of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, to throw out an election petition.
The Judges who presided over the matter are Justices Cummings-Edwards, Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud and they handed down a 2-1 decision—Justices Cummings-Edwards and Gregory allowed the appeal, while Justice Persaud dissented from their position.
With the Court’s decision, the motion that was filed by Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, on behalf of Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo and Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, was dismissed.
In response to the Court’s ruling, Douglas and Nandlall requested a two-week stay on the ruling, so that they can decide whether they will go to the Caribbean Court of Justice for final determination, or if they will allow the appeal to go ahead – this was granted by the Court.
Election petition case #99 which is challenging the outcome of the March 2, 2020 elections was dismissed by the acting Chief Justice, on January 18, last, while the remaining election petition #88 was also thrown out on April 26, 2021, by the acting Chief Justice.
This led to both matters being appealed by Monica Thomas and Brenan Nurse, who on behalf of the A Partnership for Nation Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, are seeking to challenge the validity of the March 02, 2020, national elections.

 

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