The local legal fraternity is calling for the confirmation of acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, and acting Chief Justice (CJ), Roxane George-Wiltshire.
President of the Guyana Bar Association, Kamal Ramkarran, on Friday made this declaration, and it was received with resounding applause from an audience packed with legal luminaries, who gathered for the inaugural Guyana Oil and Gas Law Training Development Conference that was put together jointly by the Judiciary and the Bar Association.
The conference is the brainchild of acting Chancellor, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who along with the acting Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire, worked on putting together the content of the programme.
According to the GBA President, the local judicial sector is on the right path under the leadership of Justices Cummings-Edwards and George-Wiltshire.
“This is what happens when you have two dynamic women heading the Judiciary, who care enough about filling the gaps in our collective knowledge by adding to their heavy work load of hearing cases all day, as well administering the legal systems and improving it by planning something of this magnitude, and seeing it through to reality. I’m sure that you will all agree that this is exactly the sort of energy and capacity we want from the heads of our Judiciary,” he posited to loud applause from the gathering.
The GBA President further added that not only are the two female justices doing a tremendous job in regard to reducing the backlog and making improvements in the Judiciary, but it is also evident that their thinking is outside the box, as is evident in the hosting of the oil conference.
President Granger is now seeking legal advice on the way forward in regard to the judicial appointments, after his nominee for the Chancellor position, Justice Kenet Benjamin, was rejected by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, whose approval is needed for a substantive appointment under Article 127 of the Constitution.
The Head of State had subsequently underscored the “necessity” of having substantive appointments.
However, Government has since come under fire for overlooking Justice Cummings-Edwards for the top judicial post, and for demoting her to the Chief Justice position. Justice Cummings-Edwards was appointed acting Chancellor and Justice George-Wiltshire acting Chief Justice in March last year.
The Bar Association last month called on both the Head of State and the Opposition Leader to break the impasse and arrive at a resolution, while warning that the unconstitutional appointments of a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice would have “embarrassing consequences”.
“The current climate surrounding the offices of the Chancellor and Chief Justice is repugnant and shakes the public confidence in the legal system. It further unfairly undermines the dignity of the offices and office holders.
In the circumstances, we urge the parties to work to break the impasse and arrive at a consensual resolution, discharging their duties to the nation and in keeping with the spirit and intent of Article 127 of the Constitution, which was amended from its original form to foster collaboration,” the GBA had said in a missive.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Friday threw its support behind the position taken by the Association, expressing concern over the fact that the President and Leader of the Opposition were unable to come to an agreement on the appointments after a lengthy process.
