ATTORNEY General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C., has renewed calls for the judiciary to re-evaluate the principles used to award legal costs in cases, especially those deemed frivolous and without merit.
His comments come in the wake of the dismissal of two constitutional challenges to Guyana’s electoral system, brought by citizens Christopher Ram and Vishnu Bandhu.
Chief Justice Roxane George, S.C., on Tuesday ruled against both cases, describing them as frivolous and lacking merit. As a result, costs of $500,000 each were awarded against the applicants.

Ram was represented by Attorney-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran and Bandhu by Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde.
Both men had challenged aspects of the Representation of the People Act (RoPA), seeking to alter elements of Guyana’s proportional representation electoral model.
The Chief Justice upheld the validity of the existing electoral framework and ruled that the cases failed to establish any constitutional violations.
Speaking during his weekly programme Issues in the News, Nandlall welcomed the court’s decision, calling it a strong endorsement of Guyana’s democratic structures.
However, he expressed concern about the inadequacy of the cost awards.
“I think more costs should have been awarded,” he said, adding: “These cases take a long time to research, prepare, and defend. They take a lot out of you in terms of writing submissions, attending court, arguing over and over again, and reading case law authority from different jurisdictions around the globe.”
Nandlall emphasised that constitutional litigation—especially those involving elections—demands the direct involvement of senior lawyers, often including the Attorney General himself.
The Attorney General explained that such matters cannot be delegated to just any lawyer, as they involve complex legal issues of national importance that require the attention and expertise of senior lawyers.
He argued that the current approach used by the judiciary to assess legal costs does not reflect the real financial and institutional burden faced by the State.
The Attorney General stressed the need for deterrence in cases that are deemed frivolous or politically motivated.
He said: “The costs awarded bear no resemblance to the actual costs endured in conducting these cases, whether by the defendant or claimant. We really need to review the principles currently being applied in relation to the computation of costs.”
In 2023, Attorney General Nandlall made a similar call for the courts to impose higher costs on litigants who file frivolous lawsuits, particularly in relation to the oil and gas sector.
Speaking after several dismissed cases against ExxonMobil and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nandlall warned that such baseless legal actions waste valuable judicial resources and burden the State.
He argued that the courts should take a more practical stance by awarding substantial costs to deter abuse of the legal system, while maintaining that genuine public interest litigation should still be encouraged and protected.
That case, filed by Vanda Radzik, Danuta Radzik, and Troy Thomas, resulted in them being ordered to pay $150,000 in costs.