FOLLOWING consultations with Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, President David Granger on Wednesday appointed Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards as acting Chancellor of the Judiciary and Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire as the new acting Chief Justice.

Prior to her appointment, Justice Cummings-Edwards acted as the Chief Justice. Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh,officially demitted office on February 23, 2017, paving the way for the new appointments. According to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP), the President met with Mr Jagdeo and consulted on the appointments, as is constitutionally required, late Wednesday afternoon.

According to the release, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, and Attorney General, Minister Basil Williams accompanied the President at the meeting. The release noted that Minister Harmon said that the discussions between the Head of State and Mr. Jagdeo were ‘meaningful’ and ‘very frank and fruitful’.

He added, however, that though the Opposition Leader requested a period of seven days to submit additional names for consideration, there is no requirement for him to agree for appointments of Acting Chancellor and Chief Justice and the President can make such appointments once consultations are held according to the Constitution of Guyana.
For the substantive posts of Acting Chancellor and Chief Justice, Article 127 of the Constitution says, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.”

According to MOTP, to ensure that there is an open and transparent process that helps the President and the Leader of the Opposition to reach an agreement, the Government has begun a process of selection, which will include consultations between the two parties.
Both posts were advertised and applications have been received as recommended by President Granger.

“A panel was put together, which comprised former Justice of Appeal, Ms.  Claudette Singh, Mr. James Patterson and Mr. Harold Lutchman. The panel of course met and we are awaiting the report of that panel. Once that is submitted to His Excellency, the President, he will in due course make his decision on the matter,” Minister Harmon was quoted as saying in the release.

That report and the information derived from the interview process will be submitted to the Leader of the Opposition, according to the Minister of State.

“We will have to have consultations, so at that point the Leader of the Opposition will be invited to consultations…that process also requires that he be given, in advance, the names of the persons who are proposed, the Curriculum Vitae of those persons and all information, which we will have at our disposal, and that information will come out from the interviewing process, which took place recently. So we will submit all of that information to the Leader of the Opposition so that he will recognise that the choice which was made was a good one and I’m sure, will find his agreement,” the Minister of State was quoted as saying.

According to MOTP, the Minister of State said that Government believes that this process sends a strong signal to professionals in the conduct of their public life as their record will be scrutinised as they seek to advance in their careers.

“What we have done is to basically introduce a process, which will add to the entire architecture of the legal system in this country that will see our Judges going through a process before they are actually appointed and, therefore, the things like the quality of the judgement, which they give once they want to move to higher office, all of these are issues which are taken into consideration,” he said.

The Opposition Leader was accompanied by Member of Parliament, Mr. Anil Nandlall.

Judges for Court of Appeal

Meanwhile, a statement from Jagdeo’s office last night noted that he will not insist on the formalities of a letter accompanied by the names of the persons who are the President’s nominees to act in these offices along with their curriculum vitae, as is the practice.

The Leader of the Opposition indicated that his reason for dispensing with these formalities is because the filling these vacancies are of national importance and the President’s departure for overseas is imminent.

According to the statement, the Leader of the Opposition then raised the issue of the absence of action in relation to the unanimous recommendations made to the President since February 2016, by the Judicial Service Commission that Justice Rishi Persaud and Justice Dawn Gregory be appointed to the Court of Appeal and Mr. Sandil Kissoon and Ms. Damone Younge, Attorneys-at-Law, be appointed as Puisne Judges. The statement further noted that Jagdeo reminded the President that he [the President] has no alternative but to act upon recommendations made by the Judicial Service Commission.

“The Leader of the Opposition emphasised that equal urgency attaches to both sets of appointment because there is currently no sitting Judge in the Court of Appeal, a three member Court and certainly, the appointment of a person to act in the position of the Chancellor alone will not fill the critical void which currently exists in that Court,” the statement noted.

It was further noted that the Leader of the Opposition adverted to a public perception that the delay in acting upon the recommendations of the Judicial Service Commission is deliberate and intended to await a differently constituted Judicial Service Commission, which may not have confidence in the recommendations of their predecessors.

“Additionally, he pointed out that the delay in elevating the two Judges to the Court of Appeal as recommended by the JSC for over a year, places them at a comparative disadvantage in respect of seniority. The Leader of the Opposition also enquired whether the recommendations of the JSC will be implemented at the same time when these acting appointments will take place.”

According to the statement, the President promised that he will address the concerns of the Leader of the Opposition at a meeting which will be held on the March 8, 2017 at 15:00hrs.