Acting Chancellor, Chief Justice urged to uphold Constitution

The helm of the Judiciary has been revamped after Appeal Court Judge, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, was sworn-in as acting Chancellor while Justice Roxanne George, was sworn-in as acting Chief Justice.
The two female judges took their oath of office before President David Granger Tuesday morning at State House.
In brief remarks during the swearing-in ceremony, the Head of Stare noted that the offices of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice are the highest in the Judiciary and as such, he charged the two new appointees to uphold the Constitution in the discharge of their functions.

“The appointment of persons to perform the function as the leader of the Judiciary is necessary to upholding the Constitution and the administration of justice… I urge you to continue to uphold the high traditions and standards of the Offices of the Chancellor and Chief Justice – the functions of which they will be performing in occurrence with the oath they have sworn. I urge members of the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches of Government to continue to respect the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana – our highest law,” the Guyanese Leader charged.
The appointments of Justice Cummings-Edwards as acting Chancellor and Justice George as acting Chief Justice were made effective since February 24 and according to President Granger, these appointments were made following “meaningful consultations” with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo in accordance with the Constitution. At the time Jagdeo had requested seven days to review the nominees but Government moved ahead and made the appointments.

These appointments came following the retirement of former Chancellor Justice Carl Singh last month and former Chief Justice Ian Chang’s retirement last year.
Justice Cummings-Edwards was initially appointed acting Chief Justice after Justice Chang retired, however her post in the Judiciary was bumped up a notch to become the second female Chancellor.
Meanwhile, the new Chief Justice speaking with reporters said she is honoured to be serving the country in this new capacity and will be trying to make a difference in the administration of justice.
“We know we have our challenges (but) challenges are meant to be overcome. I will be supporting Chancellor Cummings-Edwards, she has put in place a number of projects and programmes over the last year and I will do my best to rise to the challenge of maintaining the momentum that she has built over the last year,” Justice George-Wiltshire stated.
The acting Chief Justice added that she looks forward to the support of her colleagues and other staff of the Judiciary as she strives to “make the best” of the work to be done under her new portfolio.
Some of the areas that Justice George-Wiltshire said she will be focusing on during her tenure as Chief Justice (ag) are: tackling the backlog of cases; ensure the timely implementation of the new Civil Procedure rules, and to sensitise judicial officers as well as members of the Bar and the public on these new rules.
“So we are moving in a direction of being a bit more open so that the public understands the judicial and administration of justice system. I think that’s a bit lacking in Guyana and so that’s something we will try to do over the next few months,” the acting Chief Justice stated.