The Court of Appeal this morning ruled that the High Court has jurisdiction to hear an application by APNU+AFC Candidate, Ulita Moore who has asked for a judicial inquiry into the constitutionality of a decision made by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to have a high-level Caribbean Community (CARICOM) team supervise a national recount of the ballots cast in the March 2 General and Regional elections.
Justice Dawn Gregory, in partially allowing Moore’s appeal against a decision of the Full Court said that based on her interpretation of Article 162(1) (b) of the Constitution, GECOM must exercise supervision over the elections process and not relinquish those duties to another body, in this case, the high-level CARICOM team which came to overlook the national recount. To do so, she held would result in GECOM transgressing its authority.
Justice Dawn Gregory concurred with the ruling of Justice Holder that the High Court indeed has jurisdiction to hear Moore’s application as it attracted the constitutional supervisory discretion of the court which has “narrow jurisdiction.’’ In light of the foregoing, the Court of Appeal allowed Moore’s appeal as it did not agree with the Full Court’s ruling that the issues raised in her application are best suited for an elections petition pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2000.
Given the urgency and critical nature of the matter, the Court of Appeal said it will not remit the matter to the High Court for trial on its merit before Justice Holder because it is her view that GECOM can now proceed with the recount process. This means there is nothing preventing GECOM from legally effecting the recount process. As it is, lawyers in the matter have until 8am tomorrow to lay over written submissions as it relates to whatever aspects of the Court of Appeal’s ruling they need clarification on. The court will hand down its Consequential Orders after midday tomorrow.
The Full Court comprising Chief Justice Roxane George and Justice Nareshwar Harnanan, a few days ago, ruled that High Court Judge Franklin Holder does not have the jurisdiction to inquire into decisions made by GECOM or its Commissioners, as the first mentioned is an independent constitutional body. In doing so, the Full Court, inter alia, placed reliance on Section 140 of the Representation of the People Act and Article 162(1) (b) of the Constitution.
