Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) Leslie Sobers says that the regulatory body is preparing to initiate action in the High Court to recover over $10 million in fees from broadcasters.
Sobers told Stabroek News yesterday that the decision was taken to withdraw similar proceedings previously filed in the magistrates’ courts after the magistrate hearing the matter, guided by statute, suggested that the lower court did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter given the size of the debt sought for recovery.
Section 3 (1) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Petty Debt) Act, which sets out the extent and limitation of the jurisdiction of the magistrates’ court to hear matters for the demand or recovery of debt, provides that “all actions… for the recovery of any debt or demand where the amount claimed is not more than fifty thousand dollars…” may be commenced in the magistrates’ courts, and shall be heard and determined in a summary way.
