THE post of Chief Justice will soon become vacant as Ian Chang who is currently acting in the position is set to retire in February 2016.Chang was appointed to his current post in 2000. He however will be forced to proceed on pre-retirement leave as public servants will no longer be allowed to accumulate leave and negotiate for payment in lieu. This is as a result of a decision taken by Cabinet that public servants who do not take their annual vacation leave for an extended period will have it forfeited. This was disclosed on Wednesday by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams at a press conference on Wednesday.

Williams said when the Chief Justice proceeds on leave there is supposed to be someone acting in his position. “Someone will act in the position until a person is appointed by the President after meaningful consultation with the Opposition Leader,” the Attorney General noted.
He said discussions are being held with President David Granger on filling the position of office of the Chief Justice. For well over a decade the country’s two top judicial officers have not been confirmed in their posts. Recently the Guyana Bar Association said the time has come for action to be taken to remedy the situation, especially given the crucial nature of the Chancellor and Chief Justice posts which have been held by Justices Carl Singh and Ian Chang respectively.
In a piece dubbed, “Time to act on those acting appointments,” the body had stated that the David Granger administration has now had more than four months to bring some order to this messy situation but it has done nothing they know of. The Guyana Bar Association called on the APNU+AFC-led administration to act immediately.