Appellate Court to hear appeal against CJ ruling on GECOM Chairman

…PPP to approach the CCJ if Court of Appeal ruling does not go their way

THE Court of Appeal on July 25, 2018 will hear the appeal against the ruling of Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire which upholds the appointment of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson.

The case was filed by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall on behalf of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha.
In a post on his Facebook page, Nandlall on Friday said, “I have received a notice from the Court of Appeal informing me that the application which I filed for an early hearing of the appeal against the decision of Chief Justice Roxane George in relation to the unilateral appointment of James Patterson as the Chairman of GECOM, will be heard on the 25th day of July 2018 at 9am at the Court of Appeal.”

Earlier this month, Justice George-Wiltshire ruled that President David Granger acted constitutionally when he appointed Justice Patterson as GECOM Chair.
“I hold that there is nothing before this court to permit a finding that the President acted unlawfully or irrationally in resorting to the proviso to article 161 (2) [of the Constitution] or to rebut the presumption that Justice Patterson is qualified to be appointed to the post of Chairman of GECOM,” she said.

Mustapha in October, 2017 moved to the High Court to declare that the appointment of Justice Patterson as Chairman of GECOM is unconstitutional, null and void and of no legal effect.

He had asked the Court to grant an order “rescinding, revoking, cancelling and setting aside the appointment” of Patterson and further asking the High Court to choose a person from the 18 nominees submitted to the President by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
Jagdeo submitted three lists, each of which comprised six names, all of whom were rejected by President Granger who deemed the nominees unfit for the post.

The PPP through its Executive Secretary also contended that Justice Patterson does not have the required qualifications or integrity to be GECOM Chair. The applicant argued that the retired judge cannot be or appear to be politically impartial and independent in the discharge of the functions of his office on the grounds that he is a member of the Prerogative of Mercy Advisory Committee appointed by the President, an advisor to the Minister of Legal Affairs appointed by the President, Attorney-General or someone in the President’s Government.

He was appointed by the President to head a Commission of Inquiry into a prison break at Georgetown, Guyana, during the month of July, 2017 and was appointed by the President to be part of a panel to reviewing applications for the positions of Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Judiciary as well as served as a pall bearer at the funeral for former President Hugh Desmond Hoyte.

Additionally, he contends that President Granger violated the Constitution by “unilaterally” appointing Patterson and not a nominee from the lists provided by Jagdeo.
However, Justice George-Wiltshire dismissed all of the aforementioned claims describing them as “wholly misconceived” and awarded costs to the respondent in the sum of $250,000.

The judge said while consensus is desired, the Constitution does permit a unilateral decision to appoint a Chairman of GECOM on the rejection of the list submitted by the Leader of the Opposition. As such, the request for a declaration that the appointment of Justice Patterson is null, void and of no effect was refused.
Similarly, as it relates to the qualifications of Justice Patterson to be Chairman of GECOM, the Chief Justice said, “this declaration is refused as the evidence produced does not permit such a finding.”

The Chief Justice also rejected the Applicant’s request for an order directing the President to choose a person from the 18 names submitted to him by the Leader of the Opposition. “Such refusal is a consequence of my decisions above and because of my decision that the only list relevant to this application is the third list. In any event as stated, even if I had found in favour of the applicant, it would not have been permissible for this Court to usurp the function of the President by directing him to choose a nominee from the third or any list,” she declared.

Finally, the request for an order to rescind, revoke, cancel and set aside the appointment of Justice Patterson on October 19, 2017 as Chairman of GECOM was also dismissed.
In giving her ruling, Justice George-Wiltshire said the preliminary issue which arises is which list or lists should be examined. Article 161 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana says “there shall be an Elections Commission for Guyana consisting of a Chairman, who shall be a full-time Chairman and shall not engage in any other form of employment, and such other members as appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Article.”

Meanwhile, Nandlall said he will “tenaciously pursue this with all my energies until Constitutional Justice is delivered!” The PPP has indicated that it will approach the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on the matter if they do not obtain results favourable to them at the level of the Court of Appeal.

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