ON Thursday, the Court of Appeal is expected to hear arguments pertaining to the conservatory order being sought by Attorney General Basil Williams to preserve the status quo of the government, and his request for an interim stay to freeze the January 31 decision of the High Court with regard to the no-confidence motion.

Justice Rishi Persaud is expected to hear the arguments. The matter came up last Wednesday before Justice Persaud; however, arguments were not put, because it was observed that the Notice of Appeal and summons were not properly filed.

The Attorney General’s Chambers had subsequently explained that a Notice of Appeal was initially filed on February 5, 2019, on behalf of the attorney general challenging the chief justice’s ruling on January 31st, 2019 in the case of Christopher Ram v The Attorney General and Opposition Leader, and the Attorney General v The Speaker of the National Assembly and Leader of the Opposition.

When the records of the appeal were being settled on February 15, it was observed that there were some clerical errors and the judge was subsequently informed. Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s name was “inadvertently omitted” from the rubric of the initial Notice of Appeal.

“At this juncture, the state solicitor committed to amend the omission on the rubric and it was agreed by all the parties present that the Notice of Appeal would be amended, to now reflect the inclusion of the leader of the opposition and served on all parties. All parties noted that it was a mere inadvertent clerical error and should not adversely affect the hearing of the matter,” the attorney general said in a statement.

“As was instructed, the state solicitor amended the Notice of Appeal in accordance with  Order 2 rule 6 (1) (b) and this was filed and served on Monday, February 18th, 2019, ahead of Wednesday’s hearing before Justice of Appeal, Mr. Rishi Persaud,” he added.

Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire on January 31 upheld the decision of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, that the no-confidence motion against the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government was validly passed by a one-seat majority. According to the constitution, following a successful vote of no-confidence, General and Regional Elections must be held within three months, or at a later time as agreed by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. Government is hoping to stay the decision of the High Court until a final determination on the matter.