Chancellor reviewing JSC recommendations – President

President David Granger on Tuesday said that the recommendations made by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for the appointment of Judges have been sent to the new acting Chancellor of the Judiciary for review before any decision is taken.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on several occasions called for the Head of State to act on the recommendations made by the JSC to fill the void within the Judiciary.

Jagdeo had stated that failure to make the appointments has been fuelling the public perception that the delay was deliberate and intended to await a differently-constituted Commission.

“The Leader of the Opposition adverted to a public perception that the delay in acting upon the recommendations of the Judicial Service Commission is deliberate and intended to await a differently-constituted Judicial Service Commission, which may not have confidence in the recommendations of their predecessors,” a statement from Jagdeo’s office earlier this month had disclosed.

However, President Granger on Tuesday explained that he has not taken any actions on the recommendations, because he wanted the new acting Chancellor to review the list beforehand.

“I withheld approval because I sent the recommendations to the present Chancellor, who has agreed to look at them and resubmit the list to me. As soon as I get that list, I will be able to act on it. So I did decline; I saw the list and received some information and on the basis of that information, I sent it to the present Chancellor and I’m awaiting her advice,” the Head of State told reporters. According to the President, he is cognisant of the shortage of Judges within the Judiciary and the consequent backlog of cases; hence, he intends to have the matter dealt with at the earliest time possible. He added that the recent appointment of a new acting Chancellor and an acting Chief Justice was supportive of the fact that they were moving “quickly” to have in place the full complement of the Judiciary.

“I’m very confident that the new Chancellor (ag) is aware of the shortages and as quickly as the JSC can meet and the names submitted to me, I intend to move ahead. I have no interest in perpetuating a situation in which there are insufficient judges and a backlog is being built up…The swearing in of the Chancellor and Chief Justice is a step in the right direction, so I expect that as soon as the JSC makes its recommendations, I’ll be able to give approval and move ahead,” the President asserted.

Also recognising the urgency in making the appointments, newly-appointed acting Chancellor Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards told reporters following her swearing-in on Tuesday morning that she was willing to start work on the matter as early as today. Nevertheless, she noted that the Commission would convene shortly and would address the matter. She went on to explain the need to have a full complement of Judges at the Appeal Court.

“The complement of the Appeal Court is five (Judges) and with the swearing-in today of Justice (Roxane) George, we have two (Judges). Justice (BS) Roy is the third Judge, but he is on pre-retirement leave, so, in effect, there are only two Judges,” the new acting Chancellor stated.

She pointed out that in the Appeal Court, it took three or more Judges on the bench to hear an appeal, while in-chamber applications could be heard by a single judge. Back in February 2016, the JSC unanimously recommended that High Court Judges, Justices Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory, be appointed to the Court of Appeal and Attorneys-at-Law Sandil Kissoon and Damone Younge be appointed Puisne Judges.