BREAKING: Court of Appeal rules can hear whether election petition was properly dismissed

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 December 2021, 15:54 by Denis Chabrol

The Guyana Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear and determine whether the High Court properly dismissed an election petition  by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change’s (APNU+AFC)

The Guyana Court of Appeal’s decision was 2 to 1- The Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings and Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory as against Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud.

The Chancellor acceded to a request by People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) Representative of the List , Bharrat Jagdeo- through Attorney-at-Law Douglas Mendes- that he be given two weeks to determine whether he would appeal the decision to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The Attorney General Anil Nandlall endorsed that request. Attorneys-at-Law Roysdale Forde, Basil Williams and Kashir Khan did not object.

Tuesday’s decision means that the Guyana Court of Appeal could hear a decision of the Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire’s decision to dismiss the APNU+AFC’s petition on the grounds that that coalition’s Representative of the List, David Granger had signed relevant court documents too late for submission to the High Court in keeping with strict deadlines.

If Mr. Jagdeo does not appeal the matter to the CCJ, and the Guyana Court of Appeal rules in favour of the petitioners, it means that the petition would be sent back to the High Court for a hearing and determination.

Attorney General Nandlall had maintained throughout that the dismissal of an election petition could not be appealed.