Dear Editor,
Please permit me to respond to letters by a Mr. Quincy Anderson that was published in Guyana Times and Guyana Chronicle. His letters were an unwarranted and baseless attack on the integrity of the Caribbean Court of Justice and Justice Arif Bulkan. I call on AG Nandlal and the Guyana Bar Association to denounce this flagrant attempt to besmirch Justice Bulkan.
Mr. Anderson writes, “This is a matter of ethics, optics, and public confidence.” But he fails miserably to cite an ethical rule or judicial canon that Justice Bulkan has violated. Additionally, he has failed to provide any credible evidence that the Guyanese public questions Justice Bulkan’s impartiality. His refuge is in the nebulous realm of optics.
Let us examine the optics of the situation carefully: At first blush, one gets a feeling that this letter was to besmirch Justice Bulkan. But on closer examination this is an oblique attack on AG Nandlal’s competence. Let me explain: AG Nandlal is the government’s legal representative before the Caribbean Court of Justice. If he had the basis in fact and law to believe that Justice Bulkan was partial to forces against the PPP/C, then it behooves him to bring a motion to recuse Justice Bulkan. According to Mr. Anderson’s analysis, AG Nandlal’s failure to bring a Motion to Recuse is implicitly legal malpractice and gross incompetence.
I do not question AG Nandlal’s legal acumen. I believe that he subscribes to the notion that Justice Arif Bulkan and the Caribbean Court of Justice will impartially adjudicate matters before it. Therefore, I call upon the Guyana Bar Association and AG Nandlal to condemn this baseless attack on Justice Bulkan.
Yours truly,
Roger Ally
Fort Lauderdale
