Newly-appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams on Thursday said the pillars of the rule of law have to be restored and he signalled the likelihood of more judges being appointed with emoluments that would make it worth their while.
In a wide-ranging interview with Stabroek News on Thursday, Williams, when asked about what the APNU+AFC administration will do to entrench the primacy of the rule of law said that it first had to be restored.
He said that after 23 years of PPP/C rule “it is clear that we have to re-erect the pillars of justice that has been torn down by them, restore the rule of law and respect for the rule of law (and), uphold the sanctity of the constitution which was abused by the former president…”
Signalling that this may be a hard task, he said that people have become accustomed to the lawlessness and “treating things that are illegal as legal and things that are irregular as regular and that it will take some time for the realization of the new people to really impact them but that time would not be a long period, it would be a very short period because our government will insist on adherence and observance of the laws of the land…due regularity and due process in the law.”
On threats to law and order, he said that trafficking, in drugs, arms and persons along with money laundering can undermine and destroy the country and as such these are issues that will be looked at by the new government.
“If they are not controlled and if you do not have proper strategies to deal with it, it will make your country a failed state,” he said adding that he is confident that the best efforts will be made to deal with international crime and strengthening relations with the US in this regard.
Asked about long term plans to investigate Roger Khan and the assets he may still have here in Guyana, he said that the new government particularly the Ministry of National Security will have to look at this. Khan, a convicted drug lord now serving time in a New York jail, was linked to death squads which reigned for several years after five notorious prisoners escaped from the Camp Street jail in 2003. Prior to his capture in Suriname and subsequent rendition to the US authorities, Khan had freely operated here without any charge being brought against him. The former PPP/C government had also been accused of colluding in his self-styled fight against crime.
With respect to the vexed Anti-Money Laundering bill, Williams said that the government’s approach is to use their version of the bill that was handed in to the special select committee in the last Parliament. He said that he was informed by the director of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) whom he has met, that certain recommendations had been made and he does not see any harm in them being incorporated into the government’s version of the bill and that is what is being done now. For nearly two years, the former PPP/C government and the then opposition APNU and AFC wrangled in Parliament over the bill. With the government in the minority it was unable to win support for its version of the bill as both APNU and the AFC wanted tighter legislation to ensure that launderers and other persons transgressing the law would be prosecuted.
He said that the next Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting is in October and it is then that the country’s situation will be reviewed to determine whether it should be blacklisted. In terms of identifying and prosecuting money launderers, he said that this will fall under the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU). The new government said that it will now look at putting policies in place to assist SOCU in effectively executing its mandate.
Williams also said that he will be pushing for the establishment of a permanent law reform commission to look at extant laws. He said discussions have started and stressed that this is needed as there are areas of the law that needs to be looked at.
Asked about the shortage of judges, he said that two will be sworn in shortly, one of whom is from the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions. He added that there needs to be two more judges for the Appeal Court, two for the Commercial Court, one for the Constitutional Court and judges for the Family Court. “We will make an assessment when the time comes …it was touted previously that it was 20 judges that we needed,” he said.
Williams told Stabroek News that previously he had raised concerns about the “discrimination” in the salary structure with the chief justice and the chancellor receiving tax free salaries while the other judges are taxed. “That is an issue that is still alive. Justice [William] Ramlal had taken them to court and that matter is in court pending and it is a matter that I believe must engage the cabinet,” he said.
He said that judges ought to be paid a salary which would “make it worth their while to leave their practice. We need to look at the remuneration package…We have 11 judges. It will cost $51 million per year [for tax free salaries],” he said adding that this sum is not hard to find given the fact that so much money was spent on the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI). This matter he said, will be taken to the cabinet.
Walter Rodney COI
Williams while noting that he could not go into many details, told Stabroek News that there is a breakdown of the $324 million spent to hold the Walter Rodney COI so far and that it is a matter that has to engage the attention of the cabinet which will have to decide what happens.
Explaining why the COI has to come to an end he said if there is to be another sitting additional money will have to be spent. Willliams also said that if there is another sitting he cannot appear before the commission as the attorney for the PNCR as he now holds the post of AG.
Williams said that he is surprised at the amount of money that has been spent and is most disappointed at this since “it [COI] would not have met the expectations of the WPA.” Added to this, he said the holding of the COI was clearly politically motivated. “It is clear that in setting up this commission the PPP had its own agenda which was not coincident with the desire of the WPA to really arrive at what was the truth of the matter [of the killing of Dr Walter Rodney],” he said.
Meanwhile, asked about the budget cuts appeal case, Williams, while noting that this matter should not have started without President David Granger, the then opposition leader being given a chance to contest his exclusion as a respondent by acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, said that he will have to now examine the matter and be briefed by the parties involved before making a final decision on the way forward. The matter comes up in the Court of Appeal for a second hearing later this month. So far Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan who had filed the appeal had make submissions. It is now the turn of the Attorney General to make his argument before the court but that person is no longer Anil Nandlall. It is for the reason that the case hangs in limbo. Observers have said that it is important for the country’s and regional jurisprudence that the controversial decision of Justice Chang that the opposition-majority Parliament could not cut the government’s budget be tested in the local appeal court and if necessary at the Caribbean Court of Justice.
The new Attorney General lashed out at the previous administration’s failure to ensure that the judiciary was equipped with recording equipment under its Justice Sector Modernization Programme which has already seen billions of dollars spent.
Williams stressed the need for modern courtrooms in which judges should not be writing down testimony.
“I am disappointed that there is no reflection of the billions spend on the modernization programme for the justice system and improvements in the court,” he said, while adding that although so much money had been spent under the previous government, recording of court proceedings is yet to start. He said that while in opposition he had stressed on the importance of this but recording equipment was only installed in the Chief Justice’s court where there is not much testimony.
“We need a modern approach in our courtrooms and we must have recordings… We still have more to do,” he said.
There have been ongoing complaints about the state of the compound of the Supreme Court of Judicature. When asked about this, Williams pointed out that the sewage leaks and flooding fall under the city council.
