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Court case on appointment of Chancellor, Chief Justice adjourned
Kaieteur News – The Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC has requested an adjournment to the case filed to compel the President to appoint a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice (CJ) .
Based on a letter written to the Court by Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, Nandlall requested the adjournment because he is out of the country on official business. The letter seen by this newspaper, outlined that the Attorney General is currently engaged before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, the Netherlands in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 Guyana v Venezuela and will not return to the jurisdiction until November 24, 2022.
Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC.
The letter continued to state that while the Attorney General is aware that this request may occasion some disruption to the court’s timetable, he is hopeful that the adjournment can be accommodated, as this request will not prejudice the application in any manner whatsoever.
“Given the public importance of the matter, the Attorney General request that he is respectfully granted the opportunity to address the court on the matter personally,” the letter stated. “Save for the 29th and 30th December 2022, an adjournment to a date in and beyond December 2022 is convenient. We remain of course, guided by this honourable Court’s diary,” Hawke added.
In response to the request, the lawyer for the applicant in the matter, Selwyn Pieters said while the court may be mindful of the Court the adjournment, he asked that “the adjournment should be brief and given the public nature of the case, it should be expedited.”
Taking the parties into consideration, Justice Damon Younge adjourned the matter to January 11 at 1:30 pm. The case brought by Vice Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Vinceroy Jordan seeks inter alia an order directed to the President through the Attorney General compelling the Head-of-State to initiate the process forthwith contemplated by Article 127 of the Constitution to make permanent appointments to the two offices.
As part of his application, the PNC/R Vice Chairman and Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) also seeks a declaration from the Court that the President has no valid reason not to initiate the process to appoint permanent holders to the office of the Chief Justice and Chancellor.
He also wants the court to order the President to consult with the Opposition Leader on having permanently appointed judicial officers.
In a document to support his application, Jordan pointed to reports in which he said that the President, Irfaan Ali has refused to initiate any process to appoint permanent office holders to the top judicial posts.
The applicant alluded to the list of excuses given by the President as basis of not initiating the process to appoint the persons. Among them, he noted that Ali had said that then Leader of the Opposition Joseph Harmon and the Opposition must recognise him and his Government as a legitimate Government before he consults with him on the appointment.
In addition, Jordan noted the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), through its presidents have repeatedly called for permanent appointments to be made.
Further, the Opposition MP pointed to correspondence between the President and the current Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton.
He explained that based on the correspondence, Norton had expressed a readiness to see the process to appoint the Chief Justice and Chancellor initiated, but it was the President who has been holding off on the appointments.
Referring to correspondence between the two, Jordan pointed to Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira letter to Norton on behalf of the President stated
He noted that Teixeira said “…It appears that you have misinterpreted your role as Leader of the Opposition with regards to constitutional appointments. It is the President who decides when he is ready to engage you as Leader of the Opposition with regard to any specific constitutional appointments and not the other way round. I wish to assure you that when the President is ready to address the appointments of the Chancellor and Chief Justice, you will be engaged in accordance with the provisions of Article 127 of the Constitution.”
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