In order to address the current shortage of Judges at the Court of Appeal, President David Granger on Thursday appointed Senior Counsel Rafiq Turnhan Khan as an acting Justice of Appeal.
Senior Counsel Khan is expected to hold the position for a period of six months.
In an invited comment, he explained that he was interviewed for the post since last July but had some hiccups in clearing his workload, hence the reason for him only
From left: Attorney General Basil Williams; acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards; President David Granger; Justice Rafiq Khan; acting Chief Justice Roxane George; Minister of State Joseph Harmon; and Public Affairs Minister Dawn Hastings-Williams
now taking up the post.
“I think I can bring vast experience in civil procedures. When you come out of the Private Sector and come onto the bench, I think you bring a different perspective, not saying it’s a better perspective but you get wider views of complex legal problems and you have different experiences and it helps to widen the scope and vision of the decision you initially give,” he noted.
President David Granger said the Constitution guarantees citizens equal access to justice and protection.
“The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana is committed to ensuring equal protection and benefit of the law through its support for access by all to justice and the efficient and timely dispensation of justice by the courts. Equality before the law can exist only where there is access to the law. The absence of such access deprives citizens of equal protection and benefit of the law,” the President said.
He also pointed out that an efficient and independent Judiciary must include a full complement of legal officers, Magistrates and Judges, which enables judicial efficiency, to ensure that citizens’ cases are heard expeditiously. This, he said, will enhance public confidence in the rule of law.
Justice Khan was elevated to the status of Senior Counsel in 2017. He has been practicing mostly civil law for the past 30 years and is a partner at the Cameron and Shepherd Law Firm.
According to his biodata on the firm’s website, he was admitted to practice in Guyana in 1984 after graduating from the University of the West Indies with a law degree and obtained a Legal Education Certificate from the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. He joined Cameron and Shepherd the same year as an associate counsel and became a partner in 1986. Senior Counsel Khan is the leading practitioner in intellectual property in Guyana and has represented Government at intellectual property conferences in Geneva and Ecuador. He has served on the Legal Practitioners Committee for several years and is a member of the Rules Committee charged with revising the Rules of the High Court, in addition to having lectured in contract and equitable remedies at the University of Guyana.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon; Attorney General Basil Williams; Public Affairs Minister Dawn Hastings-Williams; acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards; acting Chief Justice Roxane George; and Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
