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May 28, 2021 News
Kaieteur News – Chief Justice (Ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire, S.C, yesterday ordered the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Sueanna Lovell, to release certified copies of the Statements of Polls (SOPs) and Statements of Recount (SORs) for a police investigation into fraud cases being prosecuted in relation to the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Previously, in dismissing the first election case, the Acting Chief Justice (CJ) had ordered that the documents be released to the Supreme Court Registrar for safekeeping until the hearing and determination of the second Election Petition filed to challenge the outcome of the elections.Back then, attorney for the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Douglas Mendes, S.C, reminded the Court that the Representation of the Peoples Act allows the CEO to destroy all elections documents after a 12-month period had elapsed after an election. That 12-month period would have been up on March 2, 2021.
Since then, the second elections case was dismissed in the High Court on April 25, 2021, but a criminal case is pending in the Georgetown Magistrate Court, where the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, is charged, along with Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxane Meyers, and the Returning Officer (RO) for District Four, Clairmont Mingo, for misconduct in public office in relation to electoral fraud.
In that case, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C, and Commissioner of Police, Nigel Hoppie, had applied to the High Court for the release of the documents, but Lowenfield who was seeking to be added as a respondent in the case through his attorney Nigel Hughes, had argued strongly against the release of the SOPs and SORs.
Earlier this week, Justice George-Wiltshire had considered an application from the CEO to join the case filed by the DPP and the Commissioner of Police. At that time, attorney Nigel Hughes, had been arguing for Lowenfield to join to the matter.
Hughes had contended that SOPs and SORs could only be legally released for an election petition. The DPP and the Commissioner of Police had requested an order to release the elections data, citing that the information is necessary in the furtherance of the investigations of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in relation to the charges filed against CEO, DCEO and Returning Officer for District Four. In their application, the parties had contended that the information forms relevant evidence for the prosecution to prove the commission of the offences, which are charged.
Further, it was stated that pursuant to the Representation of the People Act, the SOPs are required to be delivered to the CEO at GECOM.
“These documents are public records and there should be no restriction to the police obtaining copies of the said records,” the application added.
“By Common Law and Statute namely Section 50 of the Criminal Law Procedure Act. Cap. 10:01, the Commissioner of Police and any member of the Police Force, has the lawful right to collect and recover all documents and property which are relevant to the investigation and prosecution of any criminal offence,” the application had outlined.
In giving her ruling yesterday, the CJ dismissed Lowenfield’s application to be added to the case. She noted, that for the Court to allow the CEO to become a party in the matter would have complicated the legal proceeding unnecessarily. Justice George-Wiltshire stressed that although Lowenfield is the legal custodian of the documents, the CEO does not have any right to object to the court granting permission for its release. The Chief Justice said too, that the CEO has not disclosed how he would be affected by the release. She added too, these are not his personal documents but belong to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of which he is the custodian. Additionally, the Judge said the case could have been handled by the lower court.
“The police could have obtained a search warrant if Mr. Lowenfield had refused to turn over the documents. There can be nothing unlawful about this, a common occurrence in criminal proceeding,” Justice George-Wiltshire pointed out.
In her ruling the CJ emphasised that “the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the National Validity of Elections Act, speaking as they do, to the custody and safekeeping of election documents and the challenge to the validity of elections, do not mean that these documents cannot be released to law enforcement entities as part of their investigations, or in support of criminal proceedings even where the CEO is also a defendant in criminal proceedings in relation to the elections.”
As such, the Registrar of the Supreme Court was ordered to photocopy the SOPs and SORs, certify the copies and deliver them to the DPP and the Police within 10 days.
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