Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon says the recent High Court ruling has highlighted, in some ways, unintended consequences of the constitutional reform process of 2001, pointing out that timely promotions and appointments regarding the police and judicial service commissions may be threatened.
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing held yesterday at the Office of the President, Luncheon said the veto power that was created has contributed to deadlock on constitutional appointments, resulting in a failure to conclude constitutionally mandated consultation on appointments to the judiciary and service commissions.
Government has appealed Justice William Ramlal’s High Court ruling that no one person can hold the office of Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice at the same time, and that simultaneously holding both positions for an extended period is unconstitutional. The ruling was handed down on November 16.
It came amid reports that President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin have resumed talks on the appointments of a Chancellor of the Judiciary and members of the Judicial Service Commission.
Since former chancellor Justice Desiree Bernard resigned to take the post of judge on the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2005, Chief Justice Carl Singh has acted as Chancellor of the Judiciary. An application was filed in the High Court last year by the Committee for the Defence of the Constitution challenging the satisfactoriness of the Chief Justice holding the office or acting as Chancellor at the same time.
At the Cabinet briefing Luncheon said, “The [Justice] Ramlal ruling has implications for the smooth functioning of the judiciary and has properly led to the interventions of the state for a remedy. In the meanwhile, the delay for concluding the consultation if continued, has implications for the functioning of the service commissions”.
