The Opposition will be conducting background checks on the nominees for the positions of Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice, before it meets to consider these appointments again with President David Granger on February 7.
A meeting held on Wednesday between the President, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and their teams took place at State House at 10:00h.
President David Granger greets Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo upon his arrival at State House on Wednesday
The Leader of the Opposition was accompanied by Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, and Attorney Priya Manickchand, while the President had Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, and Minister of State Joseph Harmon at his side.
Following that meeting, it was agreed that both parties will meet again on February 7, to follow up on the proposed names for appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Minister Harmon informed that the Opposition requested more time to conduct their own due diligence regarding the two nominees. President Granger agreed to the suggestion.
“He [the Opposition Leader] requested a month to do due diligence which the President graciously agreed to…and we expect to meet again on February 7, when we will have that matter finalised,” the Minister said according to the Department of Public Information.
Meanwhile, Teixeira said while the meeting did not discuss much detail about the nominees and the possible appointments, she said the Opposition did make it clear that “we would do our due diligence on the candidates put forward,” noting that the invitation to meet was received during the holidays.
Granger’s favoured candidate for the post of Chancellor is Guyana-born Belize Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin. And while Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards is the acting Chancellor, the President wants to appoint her as Chief Justice. That position is currently being held by Justice Roxane George.
This meeting was held in keeping with Article 127 (1) of the Constitution which speaks to the appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice.
It states that both the Chancellor and Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.
The provision was a key aspect of the 2001 amendment to the instrument.
The meeting was organised after President Granger announced at his first press conference in two years, that he has accepted a proposal from a committee that had been set up to review and interview applicants interested in the top judicial post after it advertised locally, regionally and internationally.
Granger said he had already contacted the recommended individual who later accepted the nomination. Diligent work by the media revealed that the person the President favoured was Justice Kenneth Benjamin, who currently serves as the Chief Justice of Belize.
Jagdeo has already warned that even though the President has to make the first move to resolve the decade-long failure to appoint a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice, he would not allow himself to be coerced into accepting nominees just to fix the situation.
Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President, Sir Dennis Byron, speaking at a Guyana Bar Association event, had severely criticised the non-appointment of a substantive Chief Justice and Chancellor.
