‘We’re happy with the decision’
The team that represented the state in the matter. From L-R: Barbadian Queens Counsel Hal Gollop and Ralph Thorne; Solicitor General, Kim Kyte-Thomas, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams; Principal Legal Adviser Tiffany Castello
The team that represented the state in the matter. From L-R: Barbadian Queens Counsel Hal Gollop and Ralph Thorne; Solicitor General, Kim Kyte-Thomas, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams; Principal Legal Adviser Tiffany Castello

…AG hails Appeal Court ruling as healthy for the law

ATTORNEY General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams SC, said his team is “happy” with the decision of the Court of Appeal to uphold the decision of the High Court on the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“We are happy with the decision. We always believe that only the President could appoint the chairman of GECOM, and obviously we are vindicated in that view, and the learned Chief Justice is also vindicated,” he told reporters shortly after the Appellate Court handed down its decision.

While the panel of judges comprising the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards, Justice Dawn Gregory and Justice Rishi Persaud, dismissed the appeal against the ruling of Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire which upheld the appointment of Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM, it held that it had jurisdiction, sitting as it is, to hear the appeal.

Attorney, Anil Nandlall (Guyana Chronicle)

“It is good for the law to be healthy and you notice how the law develops. The Great Lord Denning would lay the foundation in cases as he went along, and my history in this court, and in the practice of Guyana, is that this court has struck me down many times, and I have always, always at the CCJ overcome it, every time,” Williams continued in his reaction.

He emphasised that the Court of Appeal’s decision could be appealed at the final court – the Caribbean Court of Justice (CJJ), and government stands ready to defend its positions.
The case was brought against the Attorney General by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha, who is being represented by Attorney-at-Law, Anil Nandlall. Nandlall outside the court told reporters that the decision of the Court of Appeal comes as no surprise and vowed to appeal it this time at the level of the CCJ.

“First of all let me say that I am not surprised, I am disappointed but not surprised. This is yet another case that shows how far more our judiciary has to mature because it is a part of a trend. All the cases that are deeply political are decided in a political way and that has to change,” he told reporters.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.