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Citizens urged to resist govt. abuses through court actions
– Int’l lawyers says litigation is best form of resistance until Guyana gets constitutional reform
Kaieteur News – It has proven difficult for citizens to stop the government from making decisions they are against, particularly in the runaway oil and gas sector which has now become the gem of Guyana’s economy. International lawyer Melinda Janki has thus urged Guyanese to flood the court with litigation to show the government and private companies that they will not tolerate their concerns being bypassed.
Attorney-at-law Melinda Janki
Janki was speaking at an Avaaz webinar a few weeks ago when she weighed in on avenues that citizens could utilise to demand their participation in the management of the country’s resources. Janki was very keen on the little power the current political structure offers. She indicated that unless Guyana’s “toxic” political system provides greater control to its people, they will be stuck with one or the other of the main political parties which operate in a winner takes all system.
What citizens currently have are two main political parties, with a third made up of persons from the other two parties. Without “constitutional reform”, she said Guyana appears basically struck. To force attention, Janki said citizens must bring on political pressure to show that they are not happy with what is happening. She said citizens have to lobby the government and be very public about their actions. And when that does not work, the lawyer said to get the court involved.
On the matter of law, Janki underscored the importance for more judges within the system as well as the need for judicial training on judicial review, constitution and administrative matters, as these she said, are fairly new to the local courts. Janki has four court cases relating to illegalities within the local oil sector, one involves the prevention of unauthorised flaring at the offshore FPSO in the Stabroek Block. Kaieteur News publisher Glenn Lall also has an oil related case to make ExxonMobil pay its fair share of taxes. Other oil related cases were filed with University of Guyana professor Troy Thomas winning his challenge against a 20-year operating permit approval when the law only permits five.
“Outside of existing cases, I think it is really important that people bring more court cases and challenge wherever there are grounds for illegalities; and challenge the actions because that does actually have an impact in sending a clear message that we would not tolerate unlawful actions.” Therefore, Janki continued, institutions in country as well as the private sector will want to do what’s right to avoid being sued and ending up in court. “So, it is really important that people show that they are prepared to go to court to enforce the law.”
The court ruling in Professor Thomas’ case essentially brought the environmental permit for oil operators in conformity with the law. He too believes that citizens must increase their use of the legal system, highlighting that his court victory paved the way for citizens to challenge oil companies over other environmental infractions. An order granted by Justice Jo Ann Barlow in 2020 effectively reduced Exxon’s environmental permit to the correct time as prescribed by law.
More recently, former finance minister Winston Jordan also promoted the legal avenue as a course to hit government’s speed when they do not adhere to citizen’s request. He told the opposition to up their game by using the Parliament and the courts to register their disapproval of the way the country is being run. The former minister said the opposition must flood the Parliament with motions and questions to demand answers from the government. And when they continue to behave nonchalant, limit or remove participation from the House to force a sit down since foreign supporters of democracy will not allow the government alone to sit in Parliament and run the country. Jordan said that the courts may be overloaded, but opposition must utilize these avenues as they provide official records of the struggle.
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