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The Court of Appeal will today begin hearing the Case Management in Election Petition No.88.
The election petition appeal by the opposition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), challenges the 26th April 2021 decision of acting Chief Justice (CJ), Roxane George-Wiltshire, SC, that Section 22 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act and Order 60 (Recount Order), was constitutional.
The appellants are contending that the Recount Order, which facilitated the national vote recount, was unconstitutional.
In August when applicants, Heston Bostwick and Claudette Thorne, through their attorney, Roysdale Forde, SC, applied for a speedy hearing of the appeal, they made making known they should not have to suffer the “inordinate delay” of justice due to administrative shortcomings of the Court in ensuring the Registry has in possession a written submission of the April’s decision.
“Your honour, we respectfully submit that we would have suffered up to now, at this stage, a substantial prejudice by the failure to have the full decision made and laid over before the court, upon which we could first establish and access the record of the appeal,” Forde said.
Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, supported by Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud, said: “A party or an applicant should not be turned away from the seat of justice given the nature of this matter and, therefore, in the interest of justice we will grant the application, as filed or sought by Mr. Forde.”
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo through his attorney, Douglas Mendes, QC, tried yet again to have the petition dismissed.
The Appeal’s Court, however, said “in the public’s interest, and the wider interest of justice, matters of this nature should be heard and should be determined in a timely manner.” Mendes then admitted that given the nature of the appeal, it ought to be heard urgently, noting the case has implications for allocation of seats in the National Assembly.
The petition seeks to nullify the results of the March 2, 2020 elections on the grounds of non-compliance with the Constitution of Guyana and Election Laws relating to the conduct of those polls by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
