Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings and a few APNU supporters outside of GECOM on Friday
…reflects Govt’s executive authoritarianism
Minister of State, Dawn Hastings and a few APNU supporters outside of GECOM on Friday
Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams, on Friday rejected the Caribbean Court of Justice’s appellate jurisdiction.
During a bizarre protest staged by several Government ministers and a few A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) supporters outside the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM’s) headquarters, where they were calling for house-to-house registration before elections are held, Hastings-Williams voiced her blatant disregard for the CCJ as Guyana’s final court of appeal by saying that that court has no authority to issue any consequential orders on Monday, since Guyana is an independent state with its own laws.
“GECOM is the only authoritative body that will inform the Government whether they’re ready or not for elections. CCJ cannot rule, Guyana has its own institution. Guyana is an independent country with its own independent laws,” the minister said.
Hastings was joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings, who also called for house-to-house registration before elections. And as the APNU supporters made allegations against the voters list and GECOM, Linda Gomes-Haley, one of the protestors, held up a placard that said that her name was not on the voters’ list. However, a quick perusal of the voters’ list available on the GECOM website showed that the woman, a resident of Kitty, Georgetown, was registered, and her name is on the Official List of Electors.
This act of deception did not go down well with several senior persons within the business community, who told this publication that it is blatant acts of deception like this that causes confusion.
Meanwhile, at a gathering of supporters, PNCR member James Bond was addressing the supporters when shouts of “Slow fire, more fire” became audible in the video recording as coming from supporters.
A senior Private Sector official told this newspaper that the business community is the sector that feels the brunt of such irresponsible behaviour.
The Caribbean Court of Justice has two jurisdictions: an original jurisdiction and an appellate jurisdiction. In its original jurisdiction, the CCJ interprets and applies the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (which established the Caribbean Community), and is an international court with compulsory and exclusive jurisdiction in respect to the interpretation of the treaty.
In its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ, as the court of last resort, hears appeals in both civil and criminal matters from those member states which have ceased to allow appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). As of March 2015, Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana have replaced the JCPC’s appellate jurisdiction with that of the CCJ.
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is the Caribbean’s regional judicial tribunal. It was established on 14 February 2001 by the Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. That agreement was signed on that date by the CARICOM states of Antigua & Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; Saint Kitts & Nevis; Saint Lucia; Suriname; and Trinidad & Tobago. Two further states, Dominica and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, signed the agreement on 15 February 2003, bringing the total number of signatories to 12.
The Bahamas and Haiti, although full members of CARICOM, are not yet signatories; and because of Montserrat’s status as a British territory, that country must await Instruments of Entrustment from the UK before it can ratify the treaty.
The Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice came into force on 23 July 2003, and the CCJ was inaugurated on 16 April 2005 in Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, the seat of the Court.
The reasons given for the establishment of a supreme appellate court are many and varied, including a perceived regional disenfranchisement by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
