Former Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has provided further details of what he said was an intervention by Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President Justice Winston Anderson in discussions surrounding the substantive appointments of Guyana’s Chancellor and Chief Justice.
In an interview posted on APNU’s Facebook page, Norton said his concern about Justice Anderson predated the present controversy over leaked correspondence among CCJ judges and was unrelated to the court’s recent decision in the extradition appeal involving Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed.
“My concern with Justice Anderson, while I was dealing with him, had to do with what I perceived to be his involvement in Guyanese politics, when he should be an impartial arbiter,” Norton said. “I want to make it clear, it has nothing to do with this case with Mohamed.”
Norton had disclosed last November that Justice Anderson engaged him about the long-delayed substantive appointments. He has now alleged that the CCJ President contacted him several times and sought his agreement to the appointment of then acting Chief Justice Roxane George as Chancellor and Justice Navindra Singh as Chief Justice.
Under Article 127 of the Constitution, the Chancellor and Chief Justice are appointed by the President acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.
Norton said he initially received missed calls from Justice Anderson before being advised by PNCR General Secretary Sherwin Benjamin that the CCJ President wanted to speak with him urgently.
According to Norton, Justice Anderson told him that then acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards had agreed to leave office and was satisfied with a package offered by the government.
“So, I asked him how he knew that, and he said he was part of the negotiation and sought to facilitate it. I found that strange. I found it odd that he should be involved in that,” Norton related.
Norton said Justice Anderson then asked whether he was prepared to agree to the proposed appointments of Justices George and Singh. He said he initially refused and sought to ascertain whether Justice Cummings-Edwards had voluntarily agreed to leave office.
He did not contact the acting Chancellor directly but approached someone whom he knew to be close to her.
Norton said the information relayed to him did not satisfy him that Justice Cummings-Edwards was entirely comfortable with the arrangement.
“To me, that was involuntary, and so I said at that point I’m not comfortable with it,” he said.
Norton related that he subsequently spoke with President Irfaan Ali, who advised him that a letter seeking his agreement to the appointments was on its way. He said he was told that the correspondence was confidential but received a call from a journalist enquiring about it before he had seen the letter.
“That also raised eyebrows—that I was being asked this, told a particular narrative, and out of the blue somebody from the press called,” he said.
Norton further alleged that during subsequent engagements Justice Anderson told him that the President and others were waiting to swear in the two proposed appointees. When he questioned how the CCJ President knew this, Norton said Justice Anderson indicated that he had been with President Ali.
“I found that strange,” Norton said. “I then said that I will get back to him, and then I stopped taking his calls.”
Clear
Norton said he had already made it clear during an October 2025 meeting attended by representatives of other opposition parties that he would not support an arrangement which he believed would force Justice Cummings-Edwards from office.
“I was not prepared to let them push out Justice Cummings,” he said. “That has been my principled position all along.”
It was previously reported that Justice Anderson visited Guyana between October 14 and 17 last year for the swearing-in of Guyanese jurist Justice Arif Bulkan as a CCJ judge. During that visit, he met President Ali, judicial and government officials and representatives of several opposition parties.
The opposition meeting was attended by Norton, APNU parliamentary leader Dr Terrence Campbell, Benjamin, WIN leader Azruddin Mohamed and Forward Guyana Movement leader Amanza Walton-Desir. APNU described it at the time as a “forthright interchange” on judicial reform and the state of the judiciary.
However, on November 7, Norton disclosed that Justice Anderson had also raised the substantive judicial appointments with him. At that time, Norton said he ended the discussion after concluding that it was not proceeding in the context he had initially assumed.
“All I would say to you is that I was engaged by him. I gave him my views on the situation. And outside of that, I know of no other role that he would have played,” Norton had said.
When Justice Anderson’s office was subsequently contacted by Stabroek News for clarification, he declined to speak.
In the latest interview, Norton also alleged that Justice Anderson told him Justice George was Afro-Guyanese and that agreeing to the appointments presented an opportunity for Norton to place his name “in the history books” by resolving the longstanding impasse.
Norton said he rejected that consideration and remained concerned about what he regarded as political involvement in the judicial appointments process.
“I felt that Justice Anderson came into the political frame in Guyana and, for that reason, I think he should not be the person actually in charge of the Caribbean Court of Justice,” he said.
Justice Cummings-Edwards had returned from leave to be told that her acting appointment as Chancellor had been revoked. Her resignation from office was subsequently announced by President Ali. She has since taken up a judicial position in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Separated
Norton yesterday nevertheless separated his experience from the allegations now arising from leaked emails among CCJ judges. According to reports, five of the court’s six sitting judges raised concerns about Justice Anderson’s leadership, the administration of the court and the handling of judicial matters.
Norton said he did not possess enough information to adopt APNU’s lead parliamentarian Terrence Campbell’s call for Justice Anderson’s resignation based on the leaked exchanges.
“I have no information except what the justices put out about him being dictatorial and authoritarian,” Norton said. “I want to make that very clear. I am not here commenting on what is happening in the Caribbean Court of Justice because I am not au fait with the details to make such a pronouncement.”
He maintained, however, that his own interaction with Justice Anderson amounted to “overreach” and created questions about the independence and perceived impartiality of the regional court.
Norton said APNU continued to support the existence of a Caribbean final court and the wider regional integration movement, but argued that the CCJ must be protected from governmental and political influence.
“The task is to reform the CCJ so it operates as an independent court and is insulated from governments in the Caribbean, so that it can serve the citizens of the Caribbean,” he said.
He added that the current controversy should not be used to abandon the regional institution.
“Let’s reform but save it as an institution,” Norton said, arguing that Caribbean countries still required a final court capable of delivering decisions grounded in the region’s laws, societies and cultural circumstances.
Discussion