GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Jul 25, CMC – Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, Friday said he would not respond to a request from President Irfaan Ali for consultation regarding the appointment of the Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George to the position of Acting Chancellor, who is due to go on leave.
In addition, Ali is looking for support from Norton for the recently appointed Justice of Appeal, Narendra Singh to be appointed as Acting Chief Justice.
Guyana has not had a substantively appointed Chancellor and Chief Justice for almost 20 years, with two former presidents of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the country’s highest and final court, expressing their concerns about the existing situation.
“One would have thought that if the government was going to operate in a fair way, they would have taken one of the senior Judges to become the Acting Chief Justice, because they say they will make the present Acting Chief Justice, the Acting Chancellor, and then they recommend to me one of the junior Judges who the general view is, has links to the People’s Progressive Party and may not necessarily operate based on the rule of law,” Norton told reporters.
He said that there are other judges who are senior to the judge being proposed and that no consideration had been given to them.
For a Chancellor and Chief Justice to be appointed, there must be agreement between the President and the Opposition Leader as required by the Constitution.
Norton had in the past called for the incumbent Acting Chancellor and the Acting Chief Justice to be confirmed in their positions, but the request has not found favour with the head of state.
Norton told reporters that the acting appointments do not require the agreement of the Opposition Leader, as is required for substantive appointments and that he does not believe the President is capable of “meaningful consultation”.
“Because it [Constitution] does not demand agreement like the substantive appointment, it demands meaningful consultation. Now, Irfaan Ali has not shown the ability to consult, much less meaningfully, and so, I thought it would have been a waste of time,” Norton said, adding that his response could have been interpreted as “meaningful consultation”.
Norton said as such, in a strategic move; he has opted not to respond to the President.
Justice Yonette Cummings has been the acting Chancellor since 2017, having replaced Justice Carl Singh, who acted from 2005-2017.
Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George has been in the position since 2017.
Norton said with regional and general elections due to held on September 1, “one would have thought that with elections under a month away, he (President Ali) would not have gone in that direction, however, we expect to be in government and those are issues that we can deal with,” Norton said.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall has said with no response from the Opposition Leader, the President can now proceed with the appointments of the acting Chancellor and acting Chief Justice.
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