Parliamentary secretaries reinstated as CCJ overturns Guyana’s appeal court decision

…Sarah Browne, Vickash Ramkissoon to be non-voting members

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Wednesday overturned the Guyana Appeal Court’s decision to annul the appointments of Vickash Ramkissoon and Sarah Browne as Parliamentary Secretaries in 2023, noting that the two parliamentarians will resume their function, however, as non-voting members.
The unanimous ruling was delivered by Justice Winston Anderson in the virtual presence of Guyana’s Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC; Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, Deputy Solicitor General, Shoshanna Lall as well as Attorney at Law and Parliamentarian Roysdale Forde SC, among other parties to the case.

The appointments of Ramkissoon and Browne as Parliamentary Secretaries to the Amerindian Affairs and Agriculture Ministries respectively were challenged in the High Court in 2020 by Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones.
He had contended that Browne and Ramkissoon cannot be appointed as non-elected parliamentarians since they were named on the List of Candidates presented by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Jones’ case was first upheld by acting Chief Justice Roxane George in 2021 and in 2023, Court of Appeal Judge Dawn Gregory affirmed Justice George’s ruling. In dismissing the appeal, Justice Gregory ruled that Browne and Ramkissoon were not lawful members of the National Assembly since they were on the candidate list.
The Court of Appeal noted that the Chief Justice acted in law, by following the precedent set in Attorney General vs Morian, which was first decided by now-late Chief Justice Ian Chang in 2016 and whose decision was later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
However, the Guyana Government had moved to the CCJ, seeking to overturn the rulings of the local courts.
According to CCJ’s ruling, two main issues were considered including whether the Court of Appeal was bound by the decision in Morian, and two, whether the appointments of Browne and Ramkissoon were lawful.
The CCJ resolved the both issues through provisions outlined in Guyana’s Constitution and by determining who is and how a person becomes an elected member of the National Assembly.
In his ruling, Justice Winston Anderson stated “The Court considered that the second issue could be resolved by determining, who is and how a person becomes an elected member of the National Assembly. Article 186 of the Constitution was the main provision in dispute. The Court had regard to other provisions in the Constitution that referred to the terms elected member and qualified to be elected.
Such provisions included Articles 53, 60, 101, 103, 105, 106, 113, 155, 160, and 232. The Court found that for names that are on a successful list, Morian created two classes of elected members. One class comprised real elected members whose names were extracted and who therefore could take the oath and sit and vote in the National Assembly and be appointed ministers or parliamentary secretaries.
The other class constituted elected members whose names were not extracted and who could not take the oath, had no seat in the Assembly, and could not be appointed a parliamentary secretary. Morian’s interpretation of the term elected member, when applied to certain provisions of the Constitution, produced untenable consequences. The Court therefore held that an elected member of the National Assembly is a member whose name is extracted from a successful list. This interpretation allowed for a coherent and consistent application of the term throughout the Constitution.”
As such the CCJ allowed the appeal, overturning the previous rulings, and clarified that only extracted members from a winning list are official “elected members.”
Constitutionalism has won
Following the ruling, Attorney General Anil Nandlall praised the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), stating that “Constitutionalism has won”.
“The Caribbean Court of Justice has now finally settled the law and has clarified whatever ambiguities may have existed in relation to these constitutional provisions that relate to the appointment of parliamentary secretaries as well as technocratic members of the National Assembly. So once again, constitutionalism, I believe, has won. Our Constitution has been made clearer and going forward we know how now to approach these matters whenever they arise,” Nandlall said.