Gov’t yet to decide on legal representation in third term case – Williams

Government has not yet decided whether external legal luminaries will be retained for the third term appeal case which will soon come up before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) but according to Attorney General Basil Williams SC the services of two Barbadian Queen’s Counsel may be solicited.

“As you know I have two Barbadian Queen’s Counsel (QCs) and it is quite possible that they could in fact …be advisory or they could also appear in the case”, he said  yesterday in response to a question from Stabroek News. Williams spoke to the media shortly after former Magistrate and human rights advocate Christopher Arif Bulkan was sworn in as a temporary appellate judge during a ceremony at State House.

The two QCs being referred to are Ralph Thorne and Hal Gollop, who were recently retained by the government to assist in fighting the challenge to Presi-dent David Granger’s unilateral appointment of retired judge James Patterson as Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Chairman. The duo appeared at the High Court when the matter was called on January 5.