CCJ rules that former AG Williams can be sued in personal capacity

Former Attorney General Basil Williams SC has been unsuccessful in his attempts to avoid being sued in his personal capacity in a defamation claim which former Deputy Solicitor General, Prithima Kissoon, had filed against him.

Dismissing his application, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) made it clear that in accordance with Guyana’s law, with the exception of the President, there was nothing prohibiting an officer-holder from being directly sued.

In delivering its ruling yesterday afternoon, the Trinidad-based court of last resort for Guyana said that there was nothing in the law or any authority that removed the right to sue an actual tort-feasor for acts or omissions in the performance of their duties as agent or servant of the State.