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Opposition Leader reiterates call for Chancellor, Chief Justice, to be confirmed
Kaieteur News- Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton, on Friday, reiterated his call for Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings – Edwards and Chief Justice Roxane George to be confirmed in the substantive posts.
Norton was at the time responding to questions posed by reporters on Thursday’s appointment of Clifton Hicken as Commissioner of Police. The Opposition Leader termed Hicken’s appointment as “illegal” and said there is need for the Chancellor and Chief Justice to be appointed soonest.
Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton
The women have been acting in their respective posts since 2017.
“Now, as it relates to the Chief Justice and the Chancellor, I have said very early in my term as Leader of the Opposition, I agree for them to be appointed. The question of why they aren’t appointed is a question for President Ali,” Norton told reporters.
Norton, in June 2022, indicated to President Irfaan Ali that he has no objection to both Cummings-Edwards and George being appointed as Chancellor and Chief Justice, respectively.
Kaieteur News reported on June 8, 2022 that Norton had informed President Ali that he agreed to the confirmation of Justice Cummings-Edwards and Justice George as Chancellor and Chief Justice, respectively.
Norton through the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) member and attorney-at-law, Roysdale Forde, presented a letter to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, informing the government of the Opposition’s support for the appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George
In the letter dated June 7, 2022, Forde told the Minister that: “This serves to inform you that the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Aubrey C. Norton is in agreement that Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards be appointed Chancellor of the Judiciary and Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire be appointed Chief Justice in keeping with Article 127 (1) of the Constitution which states that ‘The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition’.”
To this end, Norton told members of the media during his weekly press conference that since the Opposition Leader has already fulfilled his constitutional responsibility, the President is now charged with making the appointment.
“I am saving the President the trouble of having to ask for agreement…what I have done is to remove any barrier whatsoever. I’ve made it clear through the representative in his letter that I am in agreement once it is the appointment of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice. There is no stumbling block left…it is now out there; a formal letter stating that the President can go ahead removing (the need) of him having to engage me to say I am appointing the two. He can just go ahead because the society seems to agree that the two learned women are equipped, they have served, ruled in different directions so I don’t think that they can be accused of being partisan to one political party or the other,” he said.
A few months later in September of the same year the Kaieteur News reported that President n Ali said the time has not come as yet for him to appoint a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards.
“We are not at the stage of addressing those issues as yet, there is nothing stalling it, and is just that we have not commenced addressing that as yet. I am trying to complete the Judicial Service Commission, these things must be in place almost instantaneously now that we have the clearance,” the President said.
The Constitution mandates consultation and agreement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition on the two top judicial posts.
Justice Desiree Bernard was the last confirmed Chief Justice from 1996 t0 2001 and Chancellor from 2001 to 2005.
(Opposition Leader reiterates call for Chancellor, Chief Justice, to be confirmed)
(Opposition Leader reiterates call)
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