– groundbreaking piece of Legislation aims to make Judiciary more accountable
THE National Assembly yesterday passed the Judicial Review Bill with unanimous support and after nearly three hours of debate as to the merits of such legislation which aims to make the Judiciary more accountable. Piloting the Bill when it was read for a first time a week ago, Attorney General Charles Ramson, S.C., said the Bill is a groundbreaking piece of legislation. “We have chosen to bring the judicial process into the 21st Century,”  he said.
The Attorney General said there are reasons “why we need to have this legislation placed on the statute books.”  He said the purpose of the Judicial Review Bill is to ensure that the law is observed.
Ramson said the court itself, because it is supposed to be independent of the Executive, needs to pay attention to the exercise of power.
He said what the bill is attempting to do, as expressed in the Explanatory Memorandum, is to provide for the application to the High Court for relief by way of the review.
Speaking on behalf of the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Ms. Clarissa Riehl, asked what took the Government so long to bring the legislation to the House. She said that for too long persons in authority have been failing to exercise the duties that have been conferred on them, hence the need for the legislation.
She spoke of Clause 4, saying that this gives the right to persons to approach the court by ways other than official writs and summons. She called it a “good” legislation and said she does not know who “wrung” the Government’s arm to bring it to the National Assembly.
Speaking on the Bill, Government MP Mr. Mohabir Anil Nandlall hailed the Bill as one of the most progressive pieces of legislation that came to the House. He said that it was in 2006, during the election campaign, by the PPP/C that a promise was made to the people for a better quality of justice.
Nandlall said that judicial review is a most important area of law, and it has seen development in recent times. It allows the people to question government and challenge the actions of state officials. He said that it is fundamental in the context of Guyana.
With the Bill, Nandlall said the government is demonstrating to the world at large that it is committed to transparency.
Noting that all modern countries of the world have recognised that Judicial Review is important, Nandlall said that – more than any country of the world, Judicial Review is important in India, so much so that it is a constitutional right in India. He noted that the Bill when passed will be conferring on the people the power to criticise their Government.
Lawyer Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan of the Alliance For Change (AFC) said there has been the need for the bill to add to the armoury in the fight against abuse of power. “The AFC supports this bill,” Ramjattan declared.
Noting that the bill states how a public official must conduct his business, he said “Public officers must not act ultra vires or deprive a citizen of his legitimate expectations.”
Another Lawyer, Basil Williams of the PNCR, said the legislation is a very user friendly one. He said the law will force the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to address the issue of people “being locked away in jail awaiting trial despite having a presumption of innocence.”
Said Williams: “[It is] a very welcomed bill. We hope, in its application, government will have political will to respect decisions made through the Act. The PNCR has no difficulty in supporting this bill.”