Dear Editor,
Chief Justice Carl Singh and Justice of the Appeal Judge, Ian Chang have been acting as Chancellor and Chief Justice respectively for the past decade. The reason why they were acting and not confirmed for such a long time is that under Article 127 (1) of the constitution the President and Opposition Leader must agree to their appointments. The amended constitution removed the term “consultation” and substituted “agreement.” Both Justices Singh and Chang were appointed to act under the PPP/C administration and discussions took place between the former President Bharrat Jagdeo and the then Opposition Leader Robert Corbin, but no agreement was reached.
After Corbin was replaced as opposition leader by Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, talks renewed for the two top legal judges to be confirmed, but it is reported that the then Opposition Leader who is new President said that the positions should be advertised in the region for suitable candidates to apply for the positions. He said that there must be a transparent process before top positions in the judiciary are filled.
Now that all the ministers have been appointed and have started to prepare for the big task ahead I think it is time for the Granger/Nagamootoo administration to take steps to have a confirmed Chancellor and Chief Justice. There are a few qualified and suitable Guyanese in the region who can be appointed to head the judiciary.
One name that readily comes to mind is that of Kenneth Benjamin who is currently the Chief Justice of the Central American country of Belize. Justice Benjamin before taking up the position of chief justice three years ago, served as a judge in the Eastern Caribbean for seventeen years. He is a brilliant jurist who was a Guyana scholar and a Queen’s College graduate.
There are a few other Guyanese-born outstanding lawyers in the region who could be worthwhile candidates. Moreover other suitable Caribbean nationals could be available for selection.
As I write this piece I recall that after the Court of Appeal was established, the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham was not too happy with the then Chief Justice Sir Joseph Luckhoo heading the judiciary, and he invited Guyanese Sir Kenneth Stoby who was Chief Justice of Barbados to take the position and appointed him Chancellor of the Judiciary.
Thereafter the Chief Justice’s position became the No 2 spot in the country’s judicial system. In fact Guyana is the only country in the hemisphere and perhaps the Commonwealth which has a Chancellor as head of the judiciary.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
