President Irfaan Ali and opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed should hold constitutionally required meaningful consultations to agree on the substantive appointment of a chancellor and chief justice for the first time in about 30 years, according to University of the West Indies (UWI) law professor Tracy Robinson.
While Dr Ali last week stated that his formal letter last October – about one month after the September 1 general and regional elections – to then outgoing Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton proposing that Acting Chancellor Roxane George-Wiltshire and Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh be appointed substantively, Professor Robinson said the President should consult the new Opposition Leader.
“Given the importance of the appointment of Guyana’s judicial leaders under Article 127(1) for judicial independence and rule of law, it is crucial that both political leaders restart consultations afresh, or begin anew, and in good faith, when earlier efforts have fallen into desuetude or become defunct,” said professor Robinson who lectures in the Faculty of Law at UWI’s Mona, Jamaica campus.
“It is worth mentioning that consultations between the two functionaries may be protracted, may fail to generate an agreement or may end because those who held consultations are no longer the relevant functionaries,” she also said in response to questions by Demerara Waves Online News.
She referred to then Belize judge George Meerabux’s decision in which he emphasised the need for good faith and appropriate timing in a 1999 case in which a chief justice was appointed the day before elections and the announcement was made before the leader of the opposition was consulted.
Justice Meerabux added that a functionary, in this case a prime minister, who holds a caretaker capacity ought to “refrain[] from taking any major decisions [because that] makes a mockery of parliamentary democracy.”
Professor Robinson further reasoned that the relevant functionaries, who must agree on the appointments, are the extant or existing president and leader of the opposition, as constitutionally determined. “Barring some exceptional circumstance, as suggested by Meerabux, one would not expect a political leader functioning in a caretaker mode to make major decisions while holding that position,” she added.
Professor Robinson emphasised the importance of the president and the opposition leader abiding by Article 127(1) of Guyana’s Constitution which requires them to agree on the appointment of the chancellor or chief justice.
She noted that the Constitution says they should ‘each be appointed’, recognising they may be appointed at different times.
To make the point that the agreement should be reached through a process of good faith consultation, she cited Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) judge Peter Jamadar in the 2021 case (Air Services v Attorney General), in which he articulated principles of ‘Guyanese consultation’.
The process for realising this agreement should embody ‘values such as transparency, openness, clarity, inclusivity, accountability, and timeliness in relation to both the process and relevant stakeholders’, to quote Justice Jamadar.
While narrowly, the president can appoint an acting chancellor or chief justice after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the opposition if the office is vacant or another listed circumstance in Article 127(2), she said the president and the opposition leader are constitutionally bound to hold “good faith” consultations.
“I would argue that the two functionaries have a mutual constitutional duty to undertake these consultations in good faith where the offices are vacant or held on acting appointments because of what the CCJ described as the ‘significant and deliberate shift from exclusivity and unilateralism, on the part of the President, to inclusion and consensualism’,” she said.
Professor Robinson referred to the 2019 case Zulfikar Mustapha v The Attorney General and The Chairman of The Guyana Elections Commission in which the CCJ invalidated the appointment of the GECOM chair made by former president David Granger.
She quoted Justice Adrian Saunders, President of the CCJ as saying, “…the Constitution anticipates that the Leader of the Opposition and the President will conduct themselves in a reasonable and responsible manner, eschew partisanship and seek the best interests of the Republic and the Guyanese people.”
“In consultative and consensual decision-making processes involving the President and the Leader of the Opposition, good faith, fair and enabling processes, appropriate timing and timeliness, and political maturity matter enormously,” she added.
In August 2025, Justice George-Wiltshire, formerly the acting chief justice, was appointed acting chancellor of the judiciary and Justice Navindra Singh was appointed acting chief justice.
Since Justice Desiree Bernard was appointed substantive chief justice in 1996 and substantive chancellor in 2001, Guyana has not had substantive holders of those two offices because the president and opposition leader at various times have failed to reach agreement.
“Consultation is one dish that cannot be served cold,” says Professor Robinson, who has written extensively on constitutional law.
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