Dear Editor,
The Order published last week in the Official Gazette of Guyana but suspiciously dated the 11th June, 2019, and signed by the former Chairman of GECOM J. A. Patterson whose unilateral appointment by President Granger was historically ruled by the Caribbean Court of Justice to have been in “breach of the Constitution” to officially commence the highly contentious “house to house” registration activity is void and of no legal effect.
In law, Orders such as the one issued by the illegally appointed former Chairman of GECOM are called subsidiary or secondary legislation. Other examples of subordinate or secondary legislation are Regulations, Proclamations, Rules, By-laws or Notices and are called subordinate or secondary legislation because it derives its legal effect and authority from its respective parent Act passed in Parliament but it is the law of the land just as much as any other duly passed Act of Parliament.
That being said, all laws of Guyana are governed by and are subordinate to the Constitution of Guyana. In fact, Article 8 of the Constitution of Guyana states “This Constitution is the supreme law of Guyana and, if any other law is inconsistent with it, that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”. In law, “void” means of no legal effect and treats it as if it had never existed or happened hence the legal Latin term “void ab initio” meaning of no legal effect from the beginning (“ab initio” means “from the beginning”). It is important to note that Art. 8 uses the word “void” instead of “voidable” and the distinction in law is that “void” is of no legal effect from the beginning and “voidable” is of no legal effect from the moment it is declared void.
With the no confidence motion having been ruled by the CCJ to have been validly passed in Parliament on the 21st December, 2018, and in its consequential order it was stated at paragraph 9(f) that upon the passage of this motion of no confidence in the Government, “the clear provisions of Article 106 immediately became engaged” which states, inter alia, that the Cabinet including the President must resign and that there must be an election within three months, it means that any other law (which includes any subordinate or secondary legislation) which is inconsistent with the Constitution is void or of no legal effect from the beginning. The fact that the Order is suspiciously dated the 11th June, 2019, which was a week before the judgement of the CCJ in which GECOM was a party to the proceedings does not change the fact that the Order is of no legal effect from the beginning since the CCJ stated that Art 106 “immediately became engaged” upon the passage of the no confidence motion in Parliament which was the 21st December, 2018, and not the date which it was ruled by the CCJ that the no confidence motion was validly passed and that the unilateral appointment of the Chairman of GECOM by President Granger “was flawed and in breach of the Constitution”.
Yours faithfully,
Charles S. Ramson
Attorney at Law
