Court of Appeal ruling cannot be challenged at CCJ – AG
GEORGETOWN (CMC):
ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams said Monday’s ruling of the Court of Appeal in the disputed March 2 regional and general election cannot be challenged at Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the country’s highest court.
“Article 177 clearly states that any decision made by the Appeal Court is final and equally, in the CCJ Act Chapter 3:07, there is a provision that says the Caribbean Court of Justice will not exercise jurisdiction or hear any matter from our Court of Appeal which is stated to be final,” Williams told the state-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper.
The three-member Court of Appeal, by a majority decision, ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear a motion regarding the election of a president, interpreting also that ‘more votes’ cast in the election should in effect be ‘more valid votes’ cast.
However, the court did not grant all the remedies that had been sought by the private citizen, Eslyn David, in her motion, and also agreed to a stay of three days on the judgment.
David, who had named Williams, as well as the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and its chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh as respondents, had mounted her challenge before the appellate court pursuant to Article 177 (4) of the Constitution.
The article states in part “the Court of Appeal shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to the validity of an election of a president in so far as the question depends upon the qualification of any person for election or the interpretation of this Constitution ... . ”
POLL RECOUNT
The main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) said that it won the elections based on the national recount of votes that ended on June 9. But the ruling coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has said that the polls were filled with irregularities and anomalies and wants the elections annulled.
PPP/C general secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, has left open the possibility of taking the matter to the CCJ, saying, “We know that the CCJ has jurisdiction on this matter ... . ”
Jagdeo said that while the opposition party believes the Court of Appeal “did not have jurisdiction today and that could be challenged and all of the decisions they made … but there is nothing that they said that would prevent the declaration from being made”.
Williams said that with the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Lowenfield now has to prepare a report to be submitted to GECOM as part of the third stage of the National Recount Order.
“He still has to submit this report under Section 96 of the RPA [Representation of the People’s Act] and 177 (2) (b). He will submit it to the commission and the commission could only act on his advice, which is the language of the Constitution. His report on valid votes will be the basis of the declaration of the results of the elections under Section 99 of the RPA,”Williams added.
Williams said that the Appeal Court’s decision will guide the completion of the electoral process in Guyana.