President Irfaan will on Friday appoint Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall and Timothy Jonas as Senior Counsel.
In a statement, the Office of the President said the President after consultation with the Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, OR, Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), “will appoint Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, M.P. and Mr. Timothy Munro Jonas, as Senior Counsel with effect from the 30th day of October 2020, due to their demonstrable knowledge of and learning in the law and on account of their exemplary erudition and diligence in the practice of the law and by virtue of their distinguished contributions to the growth and development of Guyana’s jurisprudence and constitutional democracy.”
Last month, in a Fixed Date Application (FDA) filed in the High Court, Jonas requested an order of certiorari directed to the Attorney General, as the legal custodian of the State, to quash the appointments made by former President David Granger on December 31, 2019 of Attorneys, Jameela Alli, Roysdale Forde, Mursaline Bacchus, and Stanley Moore as Senior Counsel (S.C).
Among other things, Jonas called for the decision by the President to be deemed entirely void and of no legal effect by the Court.Jonas stated further that as the President and a member of the Executive, Granger’s decision to appoint Senior Counsel trespasses into the realm of the judiciary and violate Article 122 (A) of the Constitution of Guyana which expresses the doctrine of the separation of powers.
Back in 2019, there was some confusion as to whether Jonas’ name was on the list of persons identified by Granger to be appointed Senior Counsel. The Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, SC had explained that a protocol officer had contacted Jonas and might have unintentionally conveyed to him that he was approved to be elevated to Senior Counsel when in fact he was merely recommended for the honour. That recommendation was still to be considered by the then President.
Jonas had referred to the alleged occurrence as “vindictive politics,” one which has “tarnished the whole image of Silk.”
Williams had explained too that the bestowing of senior counsel is the sole discretion of the President noting that the procedure includes the chancellor of the judiciary after consultations with the judges, sending to the President a list of names of counsel she was recommending to be elevated to the Senior Counsel.
It was only after that process had been completed that the protocol department of the then Ministry of the Presidency would make contact with those persons who have been recommended, to ascertain whether they would accept the honour before the list goes to the President for final approval.
“So in the case of Jonas, he was recommended, but there was no approval by the President…” Williams had said.
