JSC may be reconstituted before month end

-Granger

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) may likely be reconstituted before the end of this month, President David Granger disclosed yesterday.

“Well, I have had a discussion with the Minister of Legal Affairs and I am hoping that it could be done during this month of January,” Granger said when asked yesterday at State House.

The tenure of the last JSC expired more than a year ago.

The Constitution provides for the establishment of a JSC, which is to comprise the Chancellor, who is the chair, the Chief Justice, the Chairman of the Public Service Commission and such other members appointed in accordance with provisions listed in Section 2 of Article 198.

It states, “The appointed members shall be appointed by the President, acting after consultation with the Minority Leader, as follows, that is to say – (a) one from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such court; and (b) not less than one and not more than two from among persons who are not attorneys-at-law in active practice, after the President has also consulted such bodies as appear to him represent attorneys-at-law in Guyana: Provided that a person shall be disqualified for appointment as a member of the Commission if he is a public officer.”

According to Article 199 of the Constitution, the JSC has the power to make appointments of judicial and legal officers and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices. Such persons include the office of the Commissioner of Title, Magistrates, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, the Registrar of the High Court, the Deputy Registrar of the High Court, the Registrar of Deeds, the Deputy Registrar of Deeds and such offices connected with the courts of Guyana, and appointments for which legal qualifications are required, as may be prescribed by Parliament.

The JSC also plays a critical role in the selection of judges.

Article 128(2) provides that “the President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission and appoint a person to act in the office of Justice of Appeal or Puisne Judge, as the case may be.”

Minister of State Joseph Harmon has repeatedly said that the matter has the attention of Cabinet but he has refrained from giving a definitive timeframe in which members of the Commission would be sworn in.

The life of the last JSC expired on September 30th, 2017.

There have been mixed views on this matter. Attorney Anil Nandlall has publicly criticised government’s failure to reconstitute the Commission.

He has asserted that this failure is part of an attempt to undermine and erode the integrity of the body. He called on the public to speak out to protect it and other institutions from political abuse.