Justice Damone Younge to decide case on appointment of Chief Justice and Chancellor in April

The eagerly awaited High Court Decision in relation to  the appointment of a Chancellor of the Judiciary and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is now expected to be handed down by Justice Damone Younge on April 17.

The case was brought by Mr. Vinceroy Jordan who asked the High Court to direct President Irfaan Ali to uphold Article 127 of the Constitution of Guyana in the appointment of a Chancellor of the Judiciary and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In early January, Justice Damone Younge heard oral arguments by Mr. Roysdale Forde SC, and Attorney General Anil Nandall SC, on the substantive appointments of Chancellor and Chief Justice.

Forde, who is representing applicant Mr. Vinceroy Jordan, asked the High Court to direct President Irfaan Ali to uphold Article 127 in the Constitution of Guyana by initiating consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Aubrey Norton, within two months.

The Senior Counsel also asked the Court to declare that since assuming Office, President Ali has failed to engage the Leader of the Opposition on the appointments in accordance with Article 127 of the Constitution.

Article 127(1) stipulates “the Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.”

Forde told the Court the refusal of the President to “honour his obligation under Article 127 of the Constitution,” has nothing to do with issues of non-recognition of the government and the shaking of hands which are “completely irrelevant in relation to [compliance with the law].”

”The Court was told that it has been more than two years since Ali’s presidency and a letter (dated May 12, 2022) was dispatched to him by Norton, calling for advancing the process of appointing a Chancellor and  Chief Justice.

In the letter, Norton had indicated his willingness to support the confirmation of acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards and acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire SC, but the President has not responded.

However, in his response, Attorney General Anil Nandlall told the court that whereas the matter is a constitutional issue, the Constitution has set no timeframe for the appointments.

He said the President is not so “bound; neither is there any precedent or any antecedent occurrence to trigger that appointment.”

“The only conditionality that affects the power of the President to appoint, but it is a fundamental conditionality, is that he cannot exercise that power without an agreement from the Opposition,” Nandlall told the court.

Attorney General Mohabir Anil Nandlall told the Court that the Constitution has set no timeframe for the appointments, and the President will engage the Leader of the Opposition on these appointments at an appropriate time.The non-appointment of a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice has attracted attention not only in Guyana but across the region with President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Adrian Sanders, calling for these appointments before the end of 2022.

He told the Guyana Bar Association Dinner on April 9, 2022, that “I believe I have a right and a duty publicly to express the view that Guyana should not let this year [2022] pass and not remedy this regrettable situation.”

Further, Sanders pointed out that “for the country to have not appointed a Chancellor of the Judiciary  for 17 long years is very disappointing; likewise, to be without an appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for several years.”

Since 2005 there has been no substantive appointment of Chancellor nor Chief Justice. However, Nandlall told the Court the President will engage the Leader of the Opposition on these appointments at an appropriate time.

Justice Cummings-Edwards was appointed acting Chancellor in 2016 while Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire SC has been acting as Chief Justice since 2017.( WiredJA News Team)