Kenneth Benjamin, the current Chief Justice of Belize, is tipped to be Guyana’s Chancellor of the Judiciary, according to highly-placed sources and luminaries in the legal profession.
Guyana Times learnt on Saturday that Benjamin was interviewed earlier this year for the post and was handpicked by a committee put together by President David Granger and his Attorney General, Basil Williams.
Benjamin is a former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officer, having served as a
Chancellor (ag) Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards
magistrate and judge advocate during his stint before migrating overseas. He studied at the Hugh Wooding Law School before going on to hold several high-level portfolios in the judicial system at home, in the Caribbean and abroad.
“While he is very qualified, one cannot help but notice the fact that he served in one way or another in the GDF. Of course, that has its own connotations and denotations. That only means that President David Granger would have seen him as ‘fit and proper’ as they say or as suitable because the President has a special liking for former GDF officials,” one source said.
According to the source, President Granger intends to appoint Benjamin in the New Year, but has run into some difficulty in the process, which the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon and Attorney General Basil Williams are actively looking to resolve.
“Whether we like it or not, Mr Granger has accepted the full recommendation and report of his committee. He is excited about this particular candidate and has already made contact with him to ensure that this is communicated,” the source related.
The source also revealed that the President was concerned over the recent posture of Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo since he believes that the former
Kenneth Benjamin
President may not “consent or agree” to the appointment of someone who has resided outside of Guyana so long.
“The President is still hopeful that the consultation with Jagdeo will go smoothly despite his own personal feeling,” the source remarked. It is not clear whether acting Chief Justice Roxane George or acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards applied to be confirmed in their respective posts.
Non-appointment
Meanwhile, former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran also hinted in his weekly column published in another section of the media that Benjamin was likely to get the top judicial post.
In his “The Conversation Tree” column, Ramkarran said Benjamin was “no doubt…qualified to hold the post”, as he noted that if appointed, he would have several important issues to tackle in Guyana.
“The first would be the inevitable fallout from displacing a popular chancellor (ag), Cummings- Edwards, whose confirmation was anticipated supportively by the entire legal profession,” he noted.
Ramkarran also noted that Cummings- Edward and acting Chief Justice Wiltshire may be reverting to their original posts as Appeal Judges until one was selected for appointment as Guyana’s substantive CJ.
“The second issue that Chief Justice Benjamin will have to face is whether the Leader of the Opposition will consent to his appointment,” the columnist wrote.
He said that the process would have to be truly consultative between President Granger and the Opposition Leader as the candidate was not likely to be known by the latter.
Noting that the process and subsequent appointment were immensely important, the Senior Counsel called for the Opposition Leader to be given access to all of the information about the process and recommendation of Benjamin.
“They cannot properly do so unless both have had an equal opportunity to make an informed decision,” he remarked.
Back in March 2017, President Granger consulted with Jagdeo before appointing Cummings-Edwards as acting Chancellor and Wiltshire as acting CJ.
Article 127 of the Constitution says “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.”
The Government had said then to ensure that there was an open and transparent process that helps the President and the Leader of the Opposition to reach an agreement; it has begun a process of selection, which will include consultations between the two parties.
Both posts were then advertised and applications have been received as recommended by President Granger. Minister Harmon was quoted then as saying, “A panel was put together, which comprised former Justice of Appeal, Ms Claudette Singh; Mr James Patterson, and Mr Harold Lutchman. The panel, of course, met and we are awaiting the report of that panel. Once that is submitted to His Excellency, the President, he will, in due course, make his decision on the matter.”
An undertaking was made to have the report and the information derived from the interview process submitted to the Leader of the Opposition, according to the Minister of State.
“We will have to have consultations so at that point the Leader of the Opposition will be invited to consultations … That process also requires that he be given in advance the names of the persons who are proposed, the Curriculum Vitae of those persons and all information, which we will have at our disposal and that information will come out from the interviewing process, which took place recently. So, we will submit all of that information to the Leader of the Opposition so that he will recognise that the choice which was made was a good one and I’m sure, will find his agreement,” the Minister of State said then.
The Minister of State was adamant then that Government believed that this process sent a strong signal to professionals in the conduct of their public life as their record would be scrutinised as they seek to advance in their careers.
“What we have done is to basically introduce a process, which will add to the entire architecture of the legal system in this country that will see our Judges going through a process before they are actually appointed and, therefore, the things like the quality of the judgment which they give once they want to move to higher office, all of these are issues which are taken into consideration,” he remarked.
Guyana Times was unable on Sunday to confirm whether or not Opposition Leader Jagdeo had received the report and all the necessary information ahead of Benjamin’s selection and possible appointment.
CCJ
Recently, Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President, Sir Dennis Byron condemned the fact that since former Chancellor Desiree Bernard demitted office, agreement has not been reached for the substantive appointment of a Chancellor.
“This has brought us to the situation today where the number one and number two officials of the Guyana judiciary have not been substantively appointed. This is a most unfortunate state of affairs,” the legal luminary stated before arguing that “this situation has moved well beyond what ought to be acceptable in a modern democracy, where respect for the rule of law is maintained. The Constitution envisages the judiciary of Guyana to be headed by officials who are substantively appointed and enjoy all the legal and institutional mechanisms to secure their tenure.” Article 127 (2) of the Constitution states: “If the office of Chancellor is vacant … then until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of such office…the functions shall be performed by such other of the Judges as shall be appointed by the President after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition.”
Commenting on this, Justice Byron noted that the language of the Act suggested that the appointment was to be a short-term one, before a substantive appointment. He noted that even from a subjective analysis, the Constitution never intended for the years it has taken to fill the substantive positions to elapse. The CCJ President said that if the right framework to appoint the Chancellor and Chief Justice was not being used, now would be the opportune time to make regulatory or statutory changes. He noted that that too may be a basis for judicial intervention. “Section 127 (1) ascribes an obligation to the President and the Leader of the Opposition that is mandatory in nature and not discretionary (to appoint the Chancellor and Chief Justice). Any failure in fulfilling this obligation must, therefore, be regarded as a breach of the Constitution,” Sir Dennis also said. Speaking during his second press conference since he took office in May 2015 which lasted for one hour, Granger revealed that the person proposed for the position of Chancellor has accepted the nomination and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo will be consulted. He did not release the person’s identify nor indicate where the person currently resides.
