Dear Editor,
I did say beware. How matters were going to go forward, should CCJ Chief Justice, Excellency Winston Anderson remain? I had shared that things wouldn’t go forward, but circular, and fists folded. Now the bad blood mentioned, the hatchets feared, have spilled into the light. CCJ Justice Peter Jamadar under siege, under the microscope.
It’s a bad time for judges. Did somebody say independence of the judiciary? Recall Big Boss Bharrat Jagdeo and his furious outburst to Justice Sandil Kissoon’s ruling in that Exxon coverage case. Note: for Exxon, not Guyana. A former head of state, a vice president most powerful, knows better, really ought to be more into, ah, self-management. But Guyanese watched in alarm as Justice Kissoon heard a mouthful. Nothing on the soothing, inspiring side. Separation of powers, who said so, still engages in doze lang time frivolities? If U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t, why shouldn’t the PPP of Guyana take a page from their hero’s book?
Hence, judges in Guyana are skinned and scarred, almost routinely. What used to be off-limits in a more reasonable era is now fair game. When the decision of a judge isn’t liked, he gets both barrels. Justice Kissoon got his, got sent to Coventry. Then, it was Justice Gino Persaud’s turn. A successful GRA tax prosecutor elevated to High Court judge targeted and sapped. Suddenly, his knowledge of the law is flawed. Whither the independent judiciary, then? When the only good decision is one that’s good for the calculations and machinations of the PPP Govt. While that same government still talks about the rule of law. What a bottle of hogwash they imbibe daily, then spit out on Guyanese hourly!
It’s a rough time to be a judge in Guyana. Unless one is willing to play politics, and delivers winning judgements in line pursuant to the expectations of those who matter.
Now in Trinidad, Justice Jamadar is having his bell rung. The difference is notable: his woes cannot be sourced to a politician with too much power; or any such animal for that matter. His anxieties are from inside the august confines of the CCJ, and there’s only one way to express what’s happened, one word that captures his ordeal. Payback. Who’s boss, who’s boy. Who holds the whip hand? Who will not shirk from taking advantage of that strength, that power! Justice Jamadar’s trials are now beginning. His pursuers remind of those old-time Wall Street warlords. Chairman, President, and CEO all in one. As in Guyana’s judiciary (Kissoon and Persaud), so at the CCJ: who dares to stand against the masters? Who is so bold, so honest, to deliver reasoning that flies in the face of expectations, the wishes of controllers?
Cheap politics and cheaper (the cheapest) political operations, I can understand. But within the chambers of the judiciary, behind the robes of justices, that’s an unswallowable one. If the last bastion of the people, the judiciary loses its independence, goes subservient, then rogue, what’s left? It may be just as well for presidents, prime ministers, and vice presidents to don black robes, and sit in the chair of justice. Cut the charade. Discard the interpreters of the law (judges). Politicians become their own interpreters. Or recruit those who will do just that for them. Law and the dispensation of justice now rendered fools, impotent, and subject to every malevolent assault.
Isn’t this not what is happening now? America. Guyana. From reports, the CCJ inching that way. Kissoon. Persaud. Jamadar. Remember those names. They are the first wave.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
Discussion