GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – An ideal candidate for the position of the Chairman of a critical organisation such as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must possess the qualities of impartiality, integrity and intelligence, qualities similar to what are expected of a former or current Judge, as is defined in the Article 161 (2) of the Constitution. , was President David Granger’s view when he selected 84-year-old Justice (Retired) James Aloysius Patterson and swore him in on October 19, 2017 as the Chairman of the body, which has the enormous task of overseeing the holding of General and Regional Elections in the country.

The Head of State no doubt knew that after a long and protracted process, where the Leader of the Opposition attempted to force his hand with several flawed lists of nominees for the post, he must find someone, who was well-grounded in law and who had a record of judicial competence that was beyond reproach. In this regard, he did not falter. As the debate continues countrywide over the selection of Justice Patterson to head the Commission, there is no doubt that he is a legal luminary and a force to reckon with in his own right, serving not only as the acting Chief Justice of Grenada but boasting more than 67 years of service in the legal field.

In a recent interview with the Press and Publicity of the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice Patterson said that while it was an appointment he did not see coming, he jumped at the opportunity when approached, as it allows him to continue to serve his country. Despite the shameless debate grounded in ageism, which is the prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, Justice Patterson is still quite capable of functioning at maximum capacity.

“There are other aspects [to consider] other than age. One of the Members of the United States Supreme Court is around my age and that member is a she, and she is a marvellous, amazing woman. Her mental faculties still have the electricity a younger person. You can be of age and totally obtuse and stupid. It goes both ways. It doesn’t follow that perfection or an approximate aspect of that goes with age. I know… some very old people who are acute and working in their minds; they can think at speed,” he said.

What the new Chairman of GECOM did not mention though is that ageism is actually illegal in many developed countries, and prohibits private and public employers from treating an applicant or employee less favourably because of their age. This is a fact that is not foreign to even the Opposition Leader, who in his list submissions, nominated two candidates, who are older than 80 years.

How does Justice Patterson stack up when one considers the qualities of impartiality, integrity and independence? He says they are embedded in his character. “I have a long association with the law. I have been the acting Chief Justice of Grenada for some years. There is some talk about me not being Chief Justice but I have acted and all of the other attributes that the President adumbrated on, I think that I have all of them; impartiality, independence and integrity. To be an effective Judge, you must be impartial. I would like to go home and sleep at nights. I want to know that I have done my best and I have discharged my functions according to the law,” the new Chairman of GECOM said.

As he takes up the mantle and responsibilities associated with the Office of Chairman of the Commission, Justice Patterson said that he has one mission and that mission is to discharge his duties in an impartial and professional manner.

“I am hoping to have the cooperation of all citizens of the voting age because they have a primary duty to vote. I am not interested in how they vote but they have a choice. That is all I am interested in. I am hoping that the vitriol I see now, disappears voting time and that people can put the country first. That is what I want to see. I have a restless social conscience that equates to how I feel about justice and I will not look at party affiliation to decide what are the things that are best for Guyana. As a Judge, that is how you have to think and I would like to go home and sleep in the nights,” he said.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION
But who exactly is the man called Justice James Patterson? As he would tell in the interview, he was born to parents who were both in the education sector. Having lost his mother at a young age, he was raised by his father, a headmaster, whom he described as “very strict” but with a quest for excellence and high standards from his offspring. While Justice Patterson said that he would have liked to share a better relationship, there is one thing he can unreservedly thank him for and that is for teaching him how to be a gentleman.

“I went to my father’s school and that was not a very nice thing during those days because headmasters expected their children to abound and excel and that was the cause of several collisions between my father and I. In those days headmasters were ‘unspoiling’ and severe most of the times and I would say compared to the person who I am and today’s dad, my father never related to me as I would relate to my children. So you learn from your parent’s omissions as well as their commissions but he was a very clever man. He taught himself to read, write and spell Hindi, Urdu and Arabic and he started me on Latin and Greek but what I can thank him for is that he installed in me, how you must treat a woman. You must be a gentleman first and if that ethic had endured now, you would have a different society,” he shared.

While Justice Patterson started his secondary education at Queen’s College, he was later transferred to St. Stanislaus College before heading off to the Washington High School, and then later to the Berbice High School where he took the Senior Cambridge examinations. In those days, the only Sixth Form schools were Queens College and Central High School. Justice Patterson opted for Central High School as that institution was offering Economics and Economic History, both subjects he wanted to sit.

“I ended my secondary education at Central High School and I consider that school my alma mater to this day. Then I started out at the Deeds Registry. If you consider my work at the Registry, I have had roughly 67 years of unbroken association with the law. In those days you had to go to England and you had to belong to one of the Inns [of Court, which has the exclusive right to call students to the Bar] to be able to do so. So I went into the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple,” he said.

As fate would have had it, Justice Patterson met former President Hugh Desmond Hoyte as a member of the Middle Temple and they became best pals. “We sat in what we called the messes, adjacent to each other and we ate in groups of four and our friendship began there. Everyone knows that I am apolitical. I appeared at that man’s funeral because he was my friend, not a political associate. Nobody can say that they have ever seen me marching for any party. They can’t say that truthfully,” Justice Patterson said, responding to criticisms from the political Opposition that he is a member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), the party to which the late President belonged.
After being called to the Degree of the Utter Bar in November 1964, Justice Patterson also became a registered nurse in the psychiatric part of the Register of the General Nursing Council of England and Wales, while he was pursuing studies at the Council for Legal Education for the Bar final examination.

From 1962-1966, he worked with John Morris, Wilkes and Company and Nairnsey Fisher and Lewis company firms of Solicitors, with the approval of the Benchers of the Middle Temple, during part of the period of the reading for the Bar. In 1970, while on holiday in Guyana, he was admitted to the Bar in Guyana.

In 1972, he returned to Guyana and entered into private practice immediately in the Chambers of the late Hector Patterson. That same year, he joined the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and was appointed as Senior State Counsel in January 1974. He subsequently resigned to take over the Chambers of the late J.O.F. Haynes, who left private practice for a Court of Appeal appointment en route to the Chancellorship of the Judiciary. In 1983, he was invited to join the Judiciary of Grenada, an offer he took up.

In 1991, he returned to Guyana and took up a position on the Supreme Court of Judicature before retiring in December 1996.

With much being said about his service as Chief Justice of Grenada, Justice Patterson said that the records speak for itself as he indeed served for a period. “I am not worried about that. There is nothing more that betrays an ingenious nature than untruths against a man’s character, so I dismiss it because there is nothing that I can do about it. I am not one to argue and debate; I listen and I keep quiet,” he said.

This was supported by Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, who during last week’s Post-Cabinet press briefing, said that regardless of whether it is a substantive or acting appointment, once that individual would have served in a certain capacity for a period of time, it cannot be disputed. “We have a lot of persons here in this country, who are acting but we don’t say that because they are acting that they aren’t in the position. We won’t say that the Chancellor of the Judiciary, who was acting until he retired wasn’t the Chancellor of the Judiciary.

The Current Chancellor and Chief Justice are acting. The person has performed in those capacities; he has performed credibly as the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Prison Riot and you can see from the quality of that work whether this person is capable of dealing with GECOM or not,” Minister Harmon said.

FAMILY
A father of 12 children; six boys and six girls, Justice Patterson said that he is not only family- oriented but also a doting grandfather, great-grandfather and great, great grandfather. “I am a very happy and very proud of all of them. They are very proud of my appointment and they encourage me every day,” he says with a smile.

Outside of his professional life, he enjoys reading, mentoring and counselling young people, particularly men and enjoying a good game of cricket. “I am very shy and I am not publicity seeking. I like reading the Bible and practice it as best as I know how, and that makes me self-content. I love to read and follow current affairs, I have a thirst for knowledge that never ceases, and I love associating with young people. I love cricket and in my time we had all the greats but I lost interest when the West Indies started losing,” he said.