When Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards returned to her desk on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, after three months of leave, few expected that within days she would be bidding farewell to the very institution she helped modernise. The announcement, made by President Irfaan Ali on the evening of October 24, that the Acting Chancellor would proceed on early retirement effective October 26, stunned bench, bar and society.
For many, it marked not just the quiet exit of a jurist but the close of an era defined by principle, restraint, and reform. From her pioneering rise through Guyana’s judicial ranks to her landmark dissent in Ramsahoye v. Kaieteur News, Cummings-Edwards’ career tells the story of a woman who built a legacy of justice — and walked away when that legacy was tested.
Her departure — sudden and shrouded in political speculation — comes at a time when Guyana’s judiciary stands as both a symbol of national maturity and a mirror of its tensions. Whether her departure was a personal decision or the result of quiet pressure, her exit has reignited debate over the independence of the courts and the long-standing failure to confirm permanent heads of the judiciary.
For a jurist long admired for her quiet dignity and unwavering adherence to the rule of law, the manner of her departure seemed at odds with her decades-long mission to strengthen that very institution. Yet, even as she steps down, her mark on the system endures — in the reforms she championed, the judgments she authored, and the integrity she modeled. To understand her impact, one must look beyond the controversy and into the architecture of a legacy that helped shape Guyana’s modern judiciary.
Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards: The Guardian of Guyana’s Judiciary
In a nation where the rule of law has often been tested by political shifts and social tension, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards stands as one of Guyana’s most trusted guardians of judicial independence and integrity.
Her journey — from a young State Counsel in the late 1980s to Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary — tells a story of dedication, reform, and courage.
Known for her measured voice and steel-spined professionalism, she has reshaped the country’s legal landscape with reforms that sought to modernise justice, humanise the courts, and protect the most vulnerable. Yet her legacy is not only institutional; it lives in her jurisprudence — especially in a single dissenting judgment that would later reshape Caribbean defamation law.
Early Life and Legal Beginnings
Born and raised in Guyana, Yonette Decina Cummings-Edwards developed an early fascination with justice and social fairness. She attended the University of the West Indies, earning her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) with Upper Second Class Honours, followed by a Certificate of Legal Education from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago. Later, she completed her Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of London, specialising in Family Law.
In 1988, she began her legal career as a State Counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Over the next decade, she rose steadily through the ranks — Senior State Counsel, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director, and eventually Acting Director of Public Prosecutions.
Her reputation for precision, fairness, and tireless work ethic soon caught national attention. In June 2000, she was appointed a Judge of the High Court, and by January 2008, elevated to the Court of Appeal — a rise built not on politics but performance.
A Reformer at the Helm: Leadership and Modernisation
Justice Cummings-Edwards’ ascension to national judicial leadership came at a pivotal time.
In December 2015, she was sworn in as Acting Chief Justice, and by March 2017, became Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary — the second woman to hold both roles in Guyana’s history.
Under her stewardship, the judiciary has undergone one of its most ambitious periods of reform. In January 2024, she launched the Judiciary’s Seven-Year Strategic Plan (2024–2031), themed “Pursuing Service Excellence through Investment in Human Resources, Management Systems and Technology.”
The plan charts a bold path toward efficiency, transparency, and access to justice. It calls for:
- Expanding court infrastructure and human resources;
- Reducing case backlogs and judicial burnout;
- Integrating technology for e-litigation and digital case management;
- Strengthening performance evaluation, accountability, and public trust.
Her vision is not merely administrative — it’s moral. She frequently reminds her colleagues that “justice must be compassionate, accessible, and human-centered,” urging lawyers and judges alike to infuse empathy into legal practice.
In speeches to the Bar and public fora, she has emphasised restorative justice, alternative dispute resolution, and the creation of specialised courts — such as the Children’s Court and Sexual Offences Court — to better serve victims, families, and vulnerable communities.
Championing Access, Equity, and the Rule of Law
Justice Cummings-Edwards’ contributions go far beyond courtrooms. She has worked to bring the judiciary closer to the people — both geographically and socially.
Her leadership has seen the digitisation of court services, enabling faster filings and remote hearings, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has pushed for gender equity across judicial institutions, ensuring women occupy top roles — from registrars to appellate judges.
As a Commissioner on the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) from 2018 to 2021, she helped oversee the appointment and evaluation of regional judges, promoting transparency and meritocracy within the Caribbean legal system.
She has also been a mentor and role model for young lawyers and women in public service, known for her insistence that justice must be rooted in “integrity, accountability, and respect for every citizen.”
Landmark Decisions and Judicial Culture
Cummings-Edwards has been instrumental in shaping Guyana’s judicial philosophy — one that balances firmness with humanity. Her judicial style is defined by restraint and respect for process, hallmarks of a jurist deeply committed to the independence of the judiciary.
Among her most influential moments on the bench came in the Court of Appeal decision in Dr. Walter Ramsahoye v. Kaieteur News, a defamation case that tested the boundaries of free expression, judicial discretion, and appellate overreach.
The Walter Ramsahoye v. Kaieteur News Case: A Dissent that Became Law
Between January and February 2000, Kaieteur News published caricatures and articles portraying Dr. Walter Ramsahoye — physician and public figure — as a dictatorial and unstable character.
Ramsahoye sued publisher Glen Lall and Kaieteur News for libel.
At trial, Justice Persaud awarded G$4.5 million in damages — modest but reasoned, given the publication’s limited circulation and the evidence of harm.
On appeal, however, the Court of Appeal majority found the sum “wholly inadequate” and raised it to G$15 million.
Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, then a Justice of Appeal, dissented.
Her reasoning was clear, principled, and surgical: appellate courts should not disturb a trial judge’s award unless it was “inordinately low” or legally unsound.
The trial judge, she wrote, had “taken a balanced view of all the circumstances” — and the majority had no basis for substituting its own view of damages.
Years later, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s highest appellate body, agreed.
In 2016 CCJ 18 (AJ), the CCJ reversed the Court of Appeal’s increase, restoring the original award and endorsing the very principles laid out in Cummings-Edwards’ dissent:
“Before an appellate Court will interfere with an award of damages, it must be satisfied that the trial judge erred in principle or made an award so inordinately low or unwarrantably high that it cannot stand.”
The CCJ went further, rejecting the notion of using other Caribbean awards as automatic benchmarks, insisting instead that damages must reflect Guyana’s unique social and economic conditions.
In short, the Cummings-Edwards dissent became Caribbean law.
The Power of Principle
Her dissent in the Ramsahoye case revealed the depth of her judicial philosophy — one anchored in discipline, context, and deference to judicial integrity.
Where others saw an opportunity to recalibrate damages, she saw the risk of undermining the trial court’s fact-finding role and the stability of legal precedent.
This same commitment to principle underlies her work as Acting Chancellor. She has defended the judiciary’s independence amid delays in confirming top judicial appointments — a constitutional impasse she navigates with quiet resilience.
In her public addresses, she reminds both bench and bar that “justice must never be a luxury reserved for the privileged; it must be the daily bread of every citizen.”
Legacy, Independence, and the October 2025 Turning Point
Her October 2025 early retirement announcement came like a tremor beneath the surface of Guyana’s justice system.
President Ali confirmed that Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire S.C. would continue as Acting Chancellor and Justice Navindra Singh as Acting Chief Justice — a reshuffle seen by many as the continuation of a decades-long pattern of acting appointments.
Legal analysts and civil society voices described the episode as “unsettling,” reflecting unease over whether the acting Chancellor’s decision was voluntary or influenced by subtle pressure from the administration.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that Cummings-Edwards had been informed she could revert to her substantive post as an Appellate Judge — a move widely interpreted as a demotion and the “proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.”
To her supporters, this was the final test of her principles: faced with compromise, she chose departure.
Epilogue: A Legacy Tested, Not Tarnished
When history recounts the story of Guyana’s modern judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards’ name will appear not as a footnote, but as a chapter heading.
Her quiet leadership, transformative reforms, and principled jurisprudence stand as a testament to what judicial service can achieve — and to the costs sometimes demanded of those who defend it.
Her dissent in Ramsahoye v. Kaieteur News once stood alone; today, it is part of regional law.
Her reforms may face new guardians, but the ideals she infused — fairness, access, compassion — remain woven into the system’s DNA.
In her departure, as in her judgments, Yonette Cummings-Edwards reminds Guyana that the measure of justice is not in the titles we hold, but in the principles we refuse to abandon.
