…lawyer says such act would breach doctrine of separation of powers

Lawyer for recalled MP, Charrandass Persaud, Sanjeev Datadin is to file an application asking the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to block the sitting of the National Assembly- a move, which legal luminaries have described as inviting the court to breach the doctrine of separations of powers.

One senior lawyer told the Guyana Chronicle that the court should only be invited to perform such an action if there is a constitutional breach, “but what is before is a no-confidence vote that was invalidated by the Court of Appeal so as far as I am concerned the status quo ante has resumed and the business of the state is legitimately going on.”

On Wednesday, during a pretrial hearing on the three appeals challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, Datadin made an oral submission to the CCJ to block the Friday April 26 Sitting of the National Assembly. Datadin is representing Persaud, who before being recalled from Parliament used his seat in the National Assembly to vote in favor of a motion that was intended to defeat his own Government. Persaud since the December 21, 2018 vote has been on a rampage to discredit the APNU+AFC Government. Though he was not physically present in the Trinidad-based CCJ, Datadin via a teleconference, while seated in the Court of Appeal, informed the President of the CCJ, Justice Adrian Saunders of the Friday sitting.

“Your honours we have learnt form the press that there is a sitting of Parliament on the 26th of April and the schedule is to pass legislation to do things related to finance and more importantly to pass legislation in relation to companies in the oil and gas sector,” Datadin to a panel of three judges led by Justice Saunders.

He added: “Now having regard to what is before the court and what are the implications, one way or the other, of the vote of December 21, it is our respectful submission that should be refrained from.”

The Attorney, however, noted that he did not make any specific application to the court because it was his intention to raise it with court first and solicit an undertaking from the Attorney General if necessary – failing which an urgent application would be filed to stop the Assembly from meeting. In response, Justice Saunders indicated that he would not comment on the matter unless there is an application before the court.

In an invited comment following hearing a lawyer who asked not to be named as he was not party to the case said from his reading of things if the court were to grant such an application then “it will collude with the doctrines of separations of power. The Court of Appeal decision paved the way for the business of the state to go on. The decision of the court is that the no-confidence motion was not validly passed.” Additionally, the lawyer observed that there is no dissolution of Parliament, “then how can the court stop it?” the lawyer questioned.

No financial bills
While the National Assembly is expected to consider the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) (Tax Laws) (Tullow Guyana B.v. Eco (Atlantic) Guyana Inc. and Total E and P Guyana BV) Order, there is no legislation related to finances that would be considered on Friday.

There are, however, several reports, on past contractual arrangements, and reports on a number of Government entities. Additionally, six bills will be introduced and read for the first time. These bills are: Interception of Communications (Amendment) Bill, Procurement (Amendment) Bill, Customs and Trade Single Window System Bill, Custom (Amendment of Schedules) Bill, National Accreditation Council (Amendment) Bill and National Accreditation Council Act 2004 (Validation) Bill.

Addressing the issue, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Ministers, Basil Williams said Datadin attempting to mislead the court into believing that there National Assembly on Friday would consider finances for the conduct of General and Regional Elections by the Guyana Elections Commission.

On the sideline of an engagement with diplomats from the UK and the US at his Chamber, Minister Williams told reporters that Datadin is attempting to “influence the court.” “This is a blatant attempt to influence the court and maligned the government and I don’t know why these attempts are being made to influence the court,” the Attorney General said.

He said the CCJ is a competent legal institution, and the Government, unlike Datadin, does not get involved in such acts. “We leave the court because we believe that they have competent people who are qualified to administer justice as our final court,” the Attorney General said.

Minister Williams said the submission in the form of a “political statement” comes at a time when the Court of Appeal has already ruled on the No-Confidence Motion and when the matter is engaging the attention of the CCJ. “The effect of the court of appeal’s decision is as though there never was a successful motion. So life goes on,” he told reporters.