–Chief Justice rules, says Lowenfield cannot block release of documents
–dismisses his application to be a party in the case

CHIEF Justice (ag), Roxane George, S.C., on Thursday, ordered the release of the certified copies of the Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs) from the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections, to the Commissioner of Police (ag), Nigel Hoppie, and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C.
The documents, which are currently lodged with the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Sueanna Lovell, are needed by the police and DPP for elections-related matters being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. There are 2,339 SOPs and 2,339 SORs.
In delivering her ruling on Thursday, the Chief Justice firstly dismissed the application filed by Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, to be listed as an interested party in the case to block the release of the documents.

The Chief Justice noted that while Lowenfield is indeed the sole custodian of the documents, he is merely an agent of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
“Although the legal custodian of the documents, the CEO does not have an interest such as to object to the court granting permission for such a release,” the Chief Justice said in her decision.
To this end, the Chief Justice rejected Lowenfield’s arguments. She deemed Lowenfield’s contentions as “untenable” since the election laws themselves contemplate criminal proceedings too. The Chief Justice further related that Lowenfield, in his application, did not disclose how he might have been affected by the release of the documents.
She contended that if Lowenfield was added as an interested party, it would have “unnecessarily” complicated the legal proceedings.
With Lowenfield’s application being denied, Justice George granted the application filed by the Top Cop and DPP for the release of the crucial elections’ documents, and ordered the Registrar of the Supreme Court to photocopy and certify the SoPs and SoRs and deliver them to the Attorney-General Anil Nandlall, S.C., within 10 days.
On January 18, 2021, the Chief Justice had ordered that the SoRs and SoPs be lodged with the High Court for “safekeeping,” after she struck out one of the elections petitions that sought to overturn the results of the polls.

The request for the documents to be lodged at the court was made by attorneys-at-law Douglas Mendes, S.C., and Kashir Khan, who had informed the court that the Representation of the People Act allows for the CEO to destroy all elections documents after a 12-month period would have elapsed.
Accordingly, Lowenfield, on January 27, 2021, delivered the SoPs and SoRs to the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
And with several employees of GECOM before the court for alleged misconduct during the elections, the DPP had advised and instructed the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to obtain certified copies of the SoPs and SoRs, as part of their investigations and gathering of evidence for presentation to the lower court.
Persons who are before the court are Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, who was charged with four counts of misconduct in public office; Lowenfield, who was charged with three counts of misconduct in public office and three counts of forgery; and Roxanne Myers, Deputy CEO, who was charged with two counts of misconduct in public office.
The DPP and Police Commissioner, in their application, contended that the documents are necessary for the fair hearing of the charges, as they constitute relevant evidence for the prosecution to prove the commission of the offences.

The Commissioner of Police, by common law and statute, particularly Section 50 of the Criminal Law (Procedure) Act, has the lawful right to collect and recover all documents and property which are relevant to the investigation and subsequent prosecution. However, Registrar Lovell had informed him that she is unable to comply with his request without a court order.
But, the DPP and the Commissioner of Police reiterated in their application to the High Court that it is imperative for them to be afforded access to the official copies of SoPs and SoRs, as they are relevant evidence to prove that those charged committed the offences.
While the documents can be easily obtained from the political parties, as they are in the public domain, the official documents lodged with the court by GECOM would be best to dispel any doubts as to their authenticity.
“If the prosecution does not have these documents, the hearing of the charges instituted will be inordinately delayed, because hundreds of witnesses will have to testify, in their stead, in the charges instituted, causing the case not to be afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time,” the DPP wrote in her affidavit in support of the application.