The appeal against the decision of Chief Justice (acting) Roxane George to uphold the contentious appointment of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman James Patterson will be heard by the Court of Appeal next month.
This is according to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, legal representative for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament Zulfikar Mustapha, in whose name the appeal was filed.
Nandlall related on Friday that he has received from the Court of Appeal a notice “informing me that the application which I filed for an early hearing of the appeal against the decision of Chief Justice Roxane George in relation to the unilateral appointment of James Patterson as the Chairman of GECOM will be heard on the 25th day of July 2018 at 9:00hrs at the Court of Appeal”.
The Chief Justice had, on June 9, ruled that the Constitution of Guyana allows for the President to unilaterally appoint someone to fill the position of Chairman of the
GECOM Chairman, retired Justice James Patterson
Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Justice George’s ruling came after the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had, on October 23, 2017, filed an injunction to have the court rescind the appointment of Patterson. The motion was filed in the name of Mustapha just days after President David Granger had announced that he had filled the position of Chairman of GECOM.
Apart from asking that the appointment of Patterson be rescinded, the PPP had argued that he is unqualified for the post, and had petitioned the court to order the President to choose a person from the 18 names submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
But the Chief Justice, in her ruling, has stated that there is nothing before the court to support a finding that the President had acted unlawfully or irrationally in resorting to the proviso to Art 161(2); and there is nothing to rebut the presumption that Justice Patterson is qualified to be appointed to the post of Chairman of GECOM.
According to the Chief Justice, the Opposition did not produce evidence to support the contention that Patterson was unqualified for the position.
She added that even if she had agreed with the contention that the appointment was unlawful, it would not have been permissible for this court to usurp the function of the President by directing him to choose a nominee from the third, or any, list.”
The appeal
In the PPP’s appeal, filed at the Court of Appeal on June 11, it was outlined, inter alia, that “The Learned Hearing Judge erred and misdirected Herself in law when Her Honour misconstrued and misinterpreted the role of the Leader of the Opposition in Article 161 (2) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana insofar as Her Honour’s interpretation or misinterpretation has reduced
The Court of Appeal will decide on the validity of the High Court ruling on July 25
the role of the Leader of the Opposition to being merely perfunctory.”
Moreover, the appeal stated: the “Learned Hearing Judge erred and misdirected Herself in law in construing Article 161 (2) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana by failing to give effect to the intentions of the framers of the said Article.”
Article 161 (2) states that, “Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), the Chairman of the Elections Commission shall be a person who holds, or who has held, office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth, or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such court, or who is qualified to be appointed as any such judge, or any other fit and proper person, to be appointed by the President from a list of six persons not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Minority Leader after consultation with the political parties represented in the National Assembly other than the party to which the President belongs.”
President David Granger had, on multiple occasions, declared that the lists provided by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo were “unacceptable” because not all of the candidates had met the requirement of being a judge or being eligible to be a judge.
It was explained that the Constitution was amended to include the Carter Formula, which is designed to expand the range of persons suitable to be appointed GECOM Chairman (to not limit that pool of persons to judges or those qualified to be judges).
Patterson was appointed to the position of Chairman of GECOM last year, after President Granger had rejected three lists comprising 18 names submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo for the post of GECOM Chairman.
