COME August 23, 2019, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire is expected to make her ruling in the legal proceeding filed by the Liberty and Justice Party Leader, Lenox Shuman, challenging the authority of the order to conduct house-to-house registration issued by former Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson.
Representing Shuman is attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin while the state is represented by Attorney General Basil Williams, Solicitor General, Nigel Hawke and Attorney-at-Law Roysdale Forde.

On Tuesday, August 13, 2019, at the Demerara High Court, submissions were made from both sides of the table and a date was set for decision in the matter.
Shuman is of the view that the appointment of the GECOM Chairman having been found to be void by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), effectively makes any order made under his hands void.

The Party Leader moved to the court and filed an application for an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the then chairman of GECOM made on June 11, 2019, to call for the house-to-house registration as unlawful, null, void, irrational, unreasonable, ultra vires, contrary to the rules of natural justice, made in bad faith and made without lawful authority.

On October 19, 2017, Justice James Patterson was unilaterally appointed to the Chairman of GECOM. However, following his appointment, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha filed legal proceedings contending that Patterson’s appointment was illegal.

The challenge by Mustapha was eventually heard by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and determined on June 18, 2019, with consequential orders made on July 12, 2019.
The CCJ declared the unilateral appointment of Patterson to be void and it was whilst the appeal was pending to the superior court, the GECOM chairman purported to make and publish the National Registration (Residents) order 2019 (NRRO 2019)
The NRRO 2019 had the effect of directing that house-to-house registration took place for the purpose of identifying qualified electors to produce an Official List of Electors.