Judges

By Feona Morrison

Judges are held to a very high standard.

So, should they not be held accountable when they break the very laws they have sworn to uphold? Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall’s answer to this question is, of course, yes.

According to the Senior Counsel, Judges have been repeatedly delinquent in complying with the Time Limit for Judicial Decisions Act – a law enacted over a decade ago which, inter alia, sets the time limit for the delivery of oral or written decisions in civil cases.

He made this disclosure while recently discussing the status of constitutional reform and electoral changes in Guyana on the social media programme The Guyana Dialogue.

Section 4 (1) of the Act states: “A Judge who presides at the trial of a civil case shall give a written or an oral decision and reasons for the decision at the conclusion of the hearing of the case or as soon as possible after the conclusion of the hearing but not later than 120 days from the date of the conclusion of the hearing.”

Section 5 of the statute further states: “Where the Court of Appeal or the Full Court hears an appeal, a Judge on behalf of the Court or each Judge of the Court shall give a written or an oral decision and reasons