Chancellor: Judiciary must control its funds

Jan 14, 2026 News

(Kaieteur News) – Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Roxane George on Monday renewed calls for the full implementation of constitutional financial autonomy, insisting that the Judiciary must return to being a self-accounting entity free from executive interference.

Justice George pointed to the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act (FMAA), passed in 2015, which grants financial autonomy to constitutional agencies by allowing them to draw directly from the Consolidated Fund. The legislation was intended to enable agencies—including the Judiciary, GECOM, the Service Commissions and the Office of the Ombudsman—to perform their constitutional functions independently.

Chancellor: Judiciary must control its funds

Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Roxane George taking the salute at the opening of law year 2026.

Subsequent amendments to the FMAA, including changes introduced by the Irfaan Ali administration in 2021, sought to clarify budgetary procedures and oversight mechanisms for constitutional agencies. However, Justice George stressed that true autonomy remains unrealised, underscoring the need for the Judiciary to manage its own finances with full accountability to Parliament. “Most importantly, I reiterate, the judiciary looks forward to full compliance with article 122A of the Constitution of Guyana, and the return of the judiciary to being a self-accounting entity which manages its tender processes with full accountability to Parliament regarding how it spends its budgetary allocation. As far as I am aware, Guyana was the first territory in CARICOM to provide for such autonomy to the judiciary. Therefore, full implementation of the fiscal management provisions is necessary to fulfill the constitutional mandate and retain our leadership in this regard,” Chancellor George said.

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Chancellor, funds, judiciary, Roxane George

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