Nothing improper about someone performing the functions of Commissioner of Police

Mar 29, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The Constitution of Guyana provides that for someone to be appointed as Commissioner of Police, there must be consultations between the President and the Leader of the Opposition, and between the President and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission after the Chairman would have consulted with his or her Commission.
Agreement is not required, only consultations.
The Constitution also provides that someone may be appointed to act as Commissioner of the office, if the office is vacant or the Commissioner is unable to perform his functions for whatever reason. Again agreement is not required, only consultations.
The previous substantive Commissioner of Police was Mr. Leslie James. Since his retirement, no substantive Commissioner of Police has been appointed. James is reported to have proceeded on pre-retirement leave in August 2020 and his leave was supposed to end at the end of April 2021.
It is therefore, only in April 2021, or whichever date Commissioner’s James retirement took effect that a vacancy would have existed in the office of the Commissioner. In his absence, Nigel Hoppie was appointed to perform the duties of Commissioner of Police.
Hoppie could not have been immediately appointed in August 2020 as acting Commissioner or Commissioner because it was not until April 2021 that a vacancy existed in the office of Commissioner.
Hoppie could not have subsequently been appointed as acting Commissioner of Police or Commissioner of Police because of the problems with the appointment of a Police Service Commission.
A distinction must be made between a person performing the duties of Commissioner of Police and someone acting as Commissioner of Police. Until such time as there is vacancy in the office of Commissioner of Police, no substantive Commissioner or acting Commissioner can be appointed.
At present, the situation is compounded because even an acting appointment cannot be made since this involves consultations with both the Leader of the Opposition and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission. At present, there is no Leader of Opposition and no Chairperson of the Police Service Commission.
In the absence of either, a substantive or an acting appointment being made, the Guyana Police Force cannot be left headless. The Constitution or Laws of Guyana would not contemplate a situation in which someone cannot be allowed to perform the functions of the Commissioner of Police. As such, someone can always be appointed to perform the duties of Commissioner. That person is neither the substantive Commissioner nor the acting Commissioner, even though it is commonplace for the media and even politicians to refer to that person as acting Commissioner of Police.
It is proper that a person be appointed to perform the functions of Commissioner of Police until such time as a Commissioner or acting Commissioner is appointed. The Guyana Police Force cannot be left without a head.
After Seeelall Persaud was sent on leave, David Ramnarine performed the functions of Commissioner. The media immediately began to refer to him as acting Commissioner but legally he was merely performing the functions of Commissioner. It was afterwards that he was appointed as acting Commissioner of Police following formal consultations between President David Granger and then Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, and the President and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission.
There is therefore no controversy brewing about Mr. Clifton Hicken’s appointment. He can be asked to perform the functions of Commissioner of Police until such time as he is appointed either as acting Commissioner of Police or Commissioner of Police.
It is inconceivable that the Constitution and the law would allow for a situation to exist in which the Police Force would not have someone to head its operations. As such, there is nothing improper about the appointment of someone to perform the functions of Commissioner.
That person, however, cannot be legally be deemed as the acting Commissioner. Such an appointment, if necessary, must await formal consultations, which will be done as soon as Parliament settles the business of the nominees to the Police Service Commission and overcomes the imbroglio surrounding the appointment of a Leader of the Opposition.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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Nothing improper about someone performing the functions of Commissioner of Police

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