Presidential Third Term matter for CCJ

Jan 19, 2018 News

Govt. to retain Bajan attorneys for third term appeal

Attorney General, Basil Williams (S.C)

Government is likely to retain the services of two Barbadian attorneys in the Presidential Term limit matter set for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), sometime this year.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams S.C, spoke of the likelihood of the case at a recent event.

He noted that while government has not yet decided whether attorneys from outside the jurisdiction will be retained for the third term appeal case, the services of two Barbadian Queen’s Counsel, Ralph Thorne and Hal Gollop, are up for consideration.

Thorne and Gollop are already retained by the State in the legal challenge the Government is facing over the unilateral appointment of Justice Winston Patterson as Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman.

Questioned about the State‘s preparedness for the third term case, the Attorney General told reporters that Government has a lot of time to prepare the State case. The State had mounted a challenge to CCJ following a ruling the Court Of Appeal which upheld a decision by former Chief Justice Ian Chang, that rendered the two-term presidential limit unconstitutional.
Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh, was supported by Justice of Appeal, B.S Roy in upholding Justice Chang’s decision. Chief Justice (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who also sat on the panel, gave a dissenting judgment.
The former CJ’s ruling was based on a Constitutional challenge, filed on behalf of Georgetown resident, Cedric Richardson in February 2014.
The applicant argued that Act 17 of 2001, which was passed by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly, unconstitutionally curtailed and restricted his sovereign and democratic rights and freedom as a qualified elector to elect former President Bharrat Jagdeo as the Executive President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
Richardson had contended that the limit was unconstitutional and illegal. He also wanted the court to determine whether the amendment with a referendum should not have been held, instead of the two-thirds majority in the National Assembly having the powers to decide to limit the number of terms
following the decision, the Attorney General and Minister of Natural Resources Raphael, Trotman approached the CCJ to challenge the ruling.

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