Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
Court to rule on March 7 in case calling for swift appointment of top judicial officers
Kaieteur News – Justice Damon Younge has set March 7, 2023 to hand down a decision in the case of which Vice Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), Vinceroy Jordan, is seeking an order to compel the President to initiate and expedite the process to appoint a substantive Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Judiciary.
Chairman of the PNCR, Vinceroy Jordan.
The Judge announced the date after Lawyers in the case presented their oral arguments in the matter. Senior Counsel, Roysdale Forde representing the Applicant and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC for the State relied on their written submissions.
Forde said that the lack of a substantive appointment is a clear case of refusal by the President to comply with the provisions in the Constitution that govern the appointment of the top Judicial Officers. “There is a failure to initiate the process based on the requirements of the Constitution,” Forde said.
In his response, Attorney General, Nandlall, among other things challenged Jordan’s application, noting that the orders prayed for are in direct conflict with the Doctrine of Separation of Powers. He noted that the President has immunity by the reason of the Doctrine of the Separation of Powers.
“Nowhere has a Head of State of a country can be directed by a Judge. I have never heard of it,” Nandlall said. He stressed too that a number of matters has prevented the President from moving forward with the appointment. According to the Attorney General, there are other appointments that must be made before the President can move forward with these appointments. “There is a human element in this matter. The law must be interpreted in a sterile manner and devoid of the circumstances in which the issues arose,” he said.
The case brought by 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 PNCR 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 start the process to appoint the Chief Justice and Chancellor, but it was the President who has been holding off on the appointments.
- Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Roysdale Forde, Senior Counsel, Vinceroy Jordan
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Deeply concerned about political dysfunction in society
Dear Editor The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) is deeply concerned about the political dysfunction in society that is... more
Haiti: Tragically Descending into Deeper Crisis
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- As gang violence spirals out of control in Haiti, the limitations of international... more
Weekend Cartoon
