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Norton seeking to appeal CJ’s decision over appointment of chairpersons of PSC, Integrity Commission
Kaieteur News – Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton has filed a Notice of Appeal against the decision of Acting Chief Justice (CJ) Roxane George-Wiltshire in which she ruled that the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and Chairperson of the Integrity Commission were lawfully appointed.
Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton
The CJ had determined that both Chairs were legally appointed on August 23, last, in a case which Norton filed challenging the appointments. The Opposition Leader had also challenged the appointment of the PSC, which the CJ found was not lawfully in place. As a result of the decision, Norton, through his lawyers Roysdale Forde, SC, and Selwyn Pieters, is seeking to appeal part of the judge’s determination.
According to a document seen by this newspaper, Norton wants the Court of Appeal to review Justice George-Wiltshire decision in which she determined that the chairpersons for the two constitutional boards are rightfully in place.
As part of the grounds of the notice of appeal, Norton claimed that Justice George-Wiltshire misinterpreted, misconstrued and misapplied the constitutional provisions as it relates to what it means to have meaningful consultation in the instance of the appointment. The Opposition Leader said that as result of the error, the CJ gave a ruling which has led to a grave miscarriage of justice.
He is contending, among other things, that the CJ applied the wrong case law in making her decision which he believes is wholly erroneous. In the circumstances, Norton has asked that the appeal is heard so that the decision of the CJ can be reversed. The notice of appeal comes days after the acting CJ found the appointment of Patrick Findlay as Chairman of the PSC was made after meaningful consultation between the Opposition Leader and President Irfaan Ali. She also ruled that Chandra Gajraj’s appointment as Chair of the Integrity Commission as well as the members of that Commission were lawfully done. However, the Judge found that in the absence of a Chairman of the PSC, with whom Findlay needed to consult, the Commission was not lawfully constituted.
On May 13, last, President Ali and Norton met for the first time regarding several appointments to constitutional bodies.
Ali and Norton had committed to meeting again the following week, but that meeting did not occur within the stipulated timeline. However, the meeting was rescheduled for May 30 but Norton was unable to attend owing to prior commitments. Following the first consultation, the Opposition Leader had requested the Curriculum Vitae (CVs) of the persons who were nominated, along with additional information. While the CVs were provided to Norton, the government did not provide the additional information and this led to a ‘tit for tat’ between the two parties.
Notably, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, had contended that the President is not mandated to provide any additional information to the Opposition Leader as he had already complied by producing the CVs. Norton in turn contended that President Ali failed to have meaningful consultation with him before making the appointments as is required by law.
According to Norton, President Ali appointed Patrick Findlay as Chairman of the PSC without meaningfully consulting him as required by Article 210 (1) (a) of the Constitution. He also wants the Court to declare that President Ali’s termination of the consultation process as being arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional, inter alia.
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