Guyanese deserve protection against the State, public bodies – Ramkarran

Judicial Review Act

In underscoring the importance of having the Judicial Review Act enforced, Attorney-at-Law and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, has said that Guyanese deserve, without delay, the protection against the state and public bodies; and unless all the mechanisms are put in place, they will not get that.

Ramkarran explained in his weekly column, ‘Conversation Tree’, that public law is important because of the unequal relationship between the Government and the public. He noted that the Government is the only body that can make decisions on the rights of individuals, and Government must act within the law. A citizen, he reminded, can ask for judicial review if they are unhappy with a decision of an authoritative body.
He recalled that, decades ago, the number of public law actions in Guyana and the wider world began to increase exponentially. In the late 1970s, the procedure in public law cases was modernized in the United Kingdom, and additional remedies were made available to citizens. The Caribbean followed later.
Guyana, always moving at an unhurried pace, finally moved in 2010, and the National Assembly passed the Judicial Review Act. However, the Act could not be implemented because it had to await the new rules of court providing for public law applications, which were implemented in February 2017.
“The Act formalises and substantially expands the right of a person or group, whose interests are adversely affected by an administrative act or omission, to obtain relief from the court through an application for judicial review,” he said. He explained that there are grounds under which an application can be made.
These are that an act is: contrary to law, in excess of jurisdiction, an unlawful procedure, in violation of natural justice, an unreasonable exercise of jurisdiction, an abuse of power, fraud, bad faith, unauthorized action, violating policy of an act, error of law, and absence of evidence for finding, among other things.
He said the orders which the court can grant include the writs of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus described above, and such orders as the court considers just. It can also now grant a declaratory judgment or an advisory declaration, or a prospective declaration, and an injunction, among other things.
“Since public law is essentially for the protection of the citizen against the state and public authorities, it immeasurably enhances the rights of, and empowers, the citizen, who will now be in a far stronger position to seek and obtain protection against the state and public bodies.
“Caribbean people have enjoyed these rights for decades. Guyanese deserve to, without delay,” he added.
Attorney General Basil Williams has recently been ordered by Chief Justice Roxane George to enforce the Judicial Review Act by July 31, 2018. In December 2017, the Chief Justice had granted an Order Rule Nisi of Mandamus, directing the AG to show cause why the said Order Nisi should not be made absolute.
Last year, Attorney Anil Nandlall moved to the court to have the following issues addressed: 1. Whether the Minister had discretion to bring into force the Judicial Review Act after the promulgation of Civil Procedure Rules. 2. Whether the Minister had a duty to issue the order to bring into force the JRA. 3. Whether the Honourable Court can compel the Minister to fulfil his duty.
In December 2017, Chief Justice George had granted an Order Rule Nisi of Mandamus, directing the AG to show cause why the said Order Nisi should not be made absolute. After reviewing all the affidavits filed by both sides and considering the legal arguments, Chief Justice George made the Order Rule Nisi absolute and directed the Legal Affairs Minister to bring the Judicial Review Act into force.
The National Assembly passed the Bill and it was assented to by the then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, in 2010. However, it was never operationalised.
Following the High Court ruling, the Bar Council issued a statement in which it outlined that it had previously raised the matter of the implementation of the Act at a meeting with Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, during a July 22, 2017 meeting, and then again by way of letter dated November 15, 2017, requesting the urgent implementation of the Judicial Review Act.
The Council said the implementation of the Act remedies a lacuna in the new Civil Procedure Rules of 2016, which contain procedures contemplating remedies under the Act. And in the absence of this Act, litigation in this vital area of the law has been stymied and made fraught with a number of procedural hurdles, some of which were laid bare in the recent cases emanating from the Caribbean Court of Justice.