GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—Kamal Ramkarran, President of the Guyana Bar Association, on Tuesday called for the confirmation of the positions of the Chancellor and Chief Justice, saying that the persons currently acting in those positions “should be confirmed as soon as possible.”
Despite calls from successive presidents of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for the positions to be filled, the appointments of acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings, and acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire have not yet become a reality.
In April 2022, CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders, addressing a dinner culminating the inaugural Law Week in Guyana, said,” For the country to have not appointed a Chancellor for 17 long years is very disappointing; likewise, to be without an appointed Chief Justice for several years.
“As the President of your final court, I believe I have a right and a duty publicly to express the view that Guyana should not let this year pass and not remedy this regrettable situation,” he said then.
Under the Guyana Constitution, the President and the Opposition Leader must agree on the appointment to the two key judicial posts.
Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has already formally told President Irfaan Ali that he supports the substantive appointment of those two senior members of the Judiciary. Article 127(1) of Guyana’s Constitution provides for the Opposition Leader’s approval.
President Irfaan Ali and Attorney General Anil Nandlall have not offered a reason for the appointment delay.
“The process is not complicated. There is no reason that we should be here 20 years later without a Chancellor and Chief Justice, and this is something that no one should accept. Not by the Judiciary, not by the people of Guyana, not by the lawyers, by no one”, Ramkarran said as he addressed the opening of the 2025 Law Year, saying it is time to bring an end to the significantly long situation of no substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice.
He told the ceremony that Justices Cummings and George-Wiltshire “are the people who should be confirmed in their positions, and it should happen as soon as possible.”
“The situation is untenable and unacceptable, and it is not something we can continue to happen,” Ramkarran said.
“There is no reason that we should be here 20 years later without a Chancellor or CJ. This is something that anyone should accept,” he said, reiterating that the two acting justices, who have served the Judiciary with distinction, are more than qualified to be confirmed for the positions they currently occupy.
Since the constitutional amendment 2001, Guyana has been without a permanent Chancellor or Chief Justice.
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