CJ manages the unlawful appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries

… Constitution misinterpreted, misinterpreted by Judge – AG says in appeal

Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall will appeal a decision introduced on Tuesday by acting Chief Justice Roxane George that the appointment of two Parliamentary Secretaries in September 2020 is illegal.

The Chief Justice delivered her verdict in a virtual session. According to her ruling, the appointments of Vickash Ramkissoon and Sarah Browne as Parliamentary Secretaries were unlawful and cannot be considered legitimate members of the National Assembly.
Justice George referred to Articles 113, 186 and 103 (3) of the Guyana Constitution in reaching her decision. He also said the lower court was bound by the Court of Appeal’s 2020 decision in the Attorney General v Morian matter.

The Attorney General v Morian is in the case of Dennis Morian, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) member, who had filed a constitutional challenge against the legality of former Technocrat And National Unity Partnership / Alliance for Change (APNU / AFC) Ministers Keith Scott and Winston Felix.
Felix, then Minister for Citizenship and Scott, the Minister with responsibility for Labor, were candidates on the coalition list in the 2015 General and Regional Elections.
Then Chief Justice Ian Chang in the High Court case in 2016 ruled that those two Members of Parliament were illegally and unconstitutionally occupying seats in the National Assembly, because of their elected member status. In January 2020, the Court of Appeal affirmed the decision of the late Justice Chang.
However, Chief Justice George stopped giving the mandatory orders initially sought by the applicant, Christopher Jones. This means that the enforcement of her ruling within the walls of the National Assembly will be in the hands of National Assembly Speaker Manzoor Nadir.

In the meantime Nandlall has indicated its intention to appeal the ruling. According to the Notice of Appeal viewed by this news broadcast, the AG will seek to set aside or vary the Chief Justice’s ruling and to award costs.
Its grounds include arguments that the Chief Justice has misdirected himself in law. At the AG’s request, the Chief Justice erred in considering the court bound by AG v Morian, instead of the constitutional provisions.
“The learned Judge’s decision that a Parliamentary Secretary cannot sit in Parliament is flawed and is misconstrued by law. The decision does not accord with the clear and unambiguous language of the Guyana Constitution, ”the AG wrote in the notice.
Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones, the candidate in the case, had argued that Browne and Ramkissoon’s appointments as non-elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and Parliamentary Secretaries to the Amerindian Affairs and Agriculture Ministries, respectively, violated the Guyana Constitution.
According to a case filed in the High Court, Jones through his lawyer, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, argued that Browne and Ramkissoon cannot be appointed as non-elected MPs since being named on the Candidate List presented by the People’s Progressive Party Civic. for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Noting that Browne and Ramkissoon are still members of the National Assembly, Jones asked the court to make an order compelling the Speaker of the National Assembly to prevent them from sitting in and participating in National Assembly business.