…CCJ President urges on appointment of chancellor, chief justice

AFTER years of political gridlock in appointing persons to the substantive posts of chancellor of the judiciary and chief justice, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Adrian Saunders said Guyana must now seriously consider whether the formula being used is appropriate.

According to Article 127 of the Constitution of Guyana, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.” However, successive presidents and opposition leaders have not been able to have consensus on these appointments over the years.

Last February, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo rejected President David Granger’s nominees for positions of Chancellor and Chief Justice. President Granger had nominated Justice Kenneth Andrew Charles Benjamin as Chancellor of the Judiciary and Madam Justice Yonette Decina Cummings-Edwards as Chief Justice following recommendations from a panel of eminent jurists who had conducted interviews with a number of candidates for the posts. Jagdeo said after conducting the requisite due diligence he was unable to offer his support to either candidate.

On Thursday, on the sideline of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Business Luncheon, the newly appointed CCJ President said the country’s inability to appoint a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice is a major concern. “This is unfortunate,” he told Guyana Chronicle. Justice Saunders said while the Guyana Constitution provides for full agreement between the President and Opposition for the appointment of both the Chancellor and Chief Justice, there has not been that unanimity.
“That formula is always likely to throw up this kind of situation and so perhaps, some attention should be given to whether that is an appropriate formula, and if the formula is to be kept, what other mechanisms should be put in place to break a deadlock but for the country not to have a chancellor,” the CCJ President said.

Justice Saunders said it is not for him to indicate what measures should be put in place to break the gridlock, but reiterated the need for an early resolution to the decade-old problem, warning that it has implications for the functioning of the courts here.

Former President of the CCJ, Sir Dennis Byron, had also called for the swift appointment of a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice. He had hinted that a judicial intervention might be needed to address a regulatory or statutory lacuna if it does indeed exist. “This situation has moved well beyond what ought to be acceptable in a modern democracy where respect for the rule of law is maintained. The constitution envisages the judiciary of Guyana to be headed by officials who are substantively appointed and enjoy all the legal and institutional mechanisms to secure their tenure. Anything otherwise is, to my mind, a violation of the spirit and intent of the constitution,” Justice Byron had said.

Guyana’s last substantive Chancellor, Desiree Bernard, retired in 2005 and took up the post as judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).