Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire on Friday refused the application filed the Liberty and Justice Party Leader, Lenox Shuman, challenging the authority former  former Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson to conduct house-to-house registration. 

On Friday, August, 24, 2019, at High Court, the Chief Justice ruled that Patterson, while being the Chairman of GECOM acted in accordance that laws of Guyana which permitted him to do so and that he was not unlawful or void.

The Judge explained that the application straddles between the public interests and abuse of the Court and awarded the cost of $200,000 each to GECOM and the Attorney General, Basil Williams.

Representing Shuman was attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin while GECOM was represented by attorney Roysdale Forde.  Solicitor General Nigel Hawke appeared for the Attorney General.

Shuman had filed the application since he was of the view that the appointment of the GECOM Chairman, having been found to be void by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), effectively makes any order made under his hands,void.

The party leader moved to the court and filed an application for an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the then chairman of GECOM made on June 11, 2019, to call for the house-to-house registration as unlawful, null, void, irrational, unreasonable, ultra vires, contrary to the rules of natural justice, made in bad faith and made without lawful authority.

Shuman had stated that there are between 30,000 and 50,000 indigenous people working in various parts of Guyana in the mining and logging sectors. He stressed that the house-to-house exercise stands to deny the “marginalised population” to exercise their franchise.

On October 19, 2017, Justice James Patterson was appointed to the post of Chairman of GECOM. However, following his appointment, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha filed legal proceedings contending that Patterson’s appointment was illegal.

The challenge by Mustapha was eventually heard by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and determined on June 18, 2019, with consequential orders made on July 12, 2019.

The CCJ declared the unilateral appointment of Patterson to be void and it was whilst the appeal was pending to the superior court, the GECOM chairman purported to make and publish the National Registration (Residents) order 2019 (NRRO 2019)

The NRRO 2019 had the effect of directing that house-to-house registration took place for the purpose of identifying qualified electors to produce an Official List of Electors.

On August 14, 2019, the Chief Justice, refused an application filed by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), through Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram, to compel the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield to immediately take all steps and actions necessary and requisite to hold General and Regional Elections on or before September 18, 2019.

The Chief Justice ruled that the ongoing registration exercise is not unlawful or unconstitutional.

She confirmed what the CCJ ruled and what the government has been saying– that the court cannot fix a date for elections here– dealing the opposition another blow in its pursuit to force early elections.

The Chief Justice that the CCJ did not fix a date or timeframe for the conduct of General and Regional Elections as she declined to grant an order compelling the  commission to hold elections by September 18.