CCJ President Entangled in Guyana’s Politics — Harris

By Mark DaCosta-On 15 August 2026, in his online column, The Adam Harris Notebook, veteran journalist Adam Harris suggests that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is facing increasing scrutiny over its intersection with the domestic political affairs of Guyana. He raises concerns that the court’s leadership, specifically its President, Justice Winston Anderson, risks appearing uncomfortably aligned with the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration. Harris argues that this perceived erosion of judicial distance — compounded by governmental secrecy surrounding national tragedies and commissions of inquiry — threatens the foundations of democracy and the rule of law in Guyana.

The anguish of the MV Barima catastrophe continues to raise emotions across our nation, yet the administration’s response has done little to reduce public grief. Across the country, citizens have confronted the government during its outreach programmes, invoking the ferry disaster that claimed scores of lives. Protesters view the much-hailed model village initiative as a governmental diversion from more serious matters.

As parliamentarian Juretha Fernandes observes, “the populace judges administrations by their deeds not promises,” and many fear these model communities may prove another hollow fantasy. Harris, ever the seasoned analyst, notes that after initial statements from Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips and Minister Juan Edghill, an ominous hush has fallen upon the administration — a quiet as deep as the silence observed in the National Assembly when legislators voted to release additional public funds to the executive.

The government’s handling of the Barima tragedy follows a depressingly familiar pattern, Harris implies. President Irfaan Ali announced a Commission of Inquiry, sworn in within four days, yet the selection of the panel immediately attracted public controversy and scrutiny regarding its suitability for such a grave task. The commission’s cost remains hidden from public view, much like the expense of the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire inquiry in 2023. Indeed, the journalist remarks, “Most issues are like state secrets.”

Citizens frequently learn of governmental expenditures only through leaked documents or the Auditor General’s Report. The public discovered the costs of the extradition proceedings against the Mohameds solely because a letter from Attorney General Anil Nandlall entered the public domain. As Harris states, “The government would never have said anything.”

Yet the deepening discourse surrounding the Caribbean Court of Justice forms the most concerning element of this landscape. The CCJ, the final arbiter of justice for our nation, now finds its institutional integrity questioned by allegations that its President has become entangled in our domestic disputes. Justice Winston Anderson, who assumed the CCJ presidency in July 2025, faces accusations of maintaining dangerously close ties to the ruling party’s upper echelons.

Furthermore, confidential correspondence published by the Trinidad Express has exposed deep fractures among the CCJ’s own judges, with reports detailing an increasingly strained and highly centralised leadership style. While the court acknowledged these divisions — conceding that questions presented without full context might be mischaracterised — it noticeably declined to entirely discredit the substance of the reports.

The commentator argues that Anderson’s interactions regarding our local judiciary have been extraordinary. Former Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton publicly stated that the CCJ President repeatedly telephoned him, allegedly lobbying for Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards to accept a severance package and vacate her position. For a regional judicial officer to intervene in a domestic constitutional impasse is a striking development that critics argue is highly inappropriate.

Adding to the unease, Anderson was reportedly present alongside President Ali during key judicial ceremonies, while the nation continues to suffer through a prolonged constitutional deadlock that has left Justice Roxane George and Justice Navindra Singh languishing in acting capacities as Chancellor and Chief Justice, respectively, rather than being substantively confirmed.

This perceived intervention carries historical precedent. Harris reminds readers that when former President Bharrat Jagdeo sought a third term via a challenge by Cedric Richardson, the CCJ ruled six to one against; the lone dissent belonged to Justice Anderson. During the tumultuous 2020 elections, the CCJ — then under Justice Adrian Saunders — asserted jurisdiction over electoral matters despite the constitutional stipulation that the Court of Appeal held ultimate authority over such disputes.

The PPP approached the regional court, and it obliged, permanently altering the electoral landscape. Justice Cummings-Edwards had previously ruled against the governing party in local courts, a factor many observers believe explains President Ali’s persistent refusal to confirm her.

The implications for our republic are profound. “Courts are supposed to be independent,” Harris writes. “Judgements are based on the law; or are supposed to be based on the law.” The local judiciary has navigated the pressures of political manoeuvring for decades, but when the CCJ — the ultimate guardian of justice for our nation — faces such profound questions regarding its politicisation, the bedrock of the rule of law is shaken.

With internal emails exposing fractures and prominent voices questioning the court’s trajectory, the institution’s credibility is under severe stress. Several Caribbean nations have historically resisted adopting the CCJ; Harris suggests their caution may have been well-founded. For citizens of our country, this perceived erosion of judicial independence at both the domestic and regional levels leaves democracy perilously exposed.