CCJ rules Ramkissoon and Browne lawfully appointed Parliamentary Secretaries

In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has overturned previous decisions by the Guyana High Court and Court of Appeal, affirming the lawful appointments of Vikash Ramkissoon and Sarah Browne as Parliamentary Secretaries in the National Assembly.

This decision allows the two members of the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) to resume their roles in government.

The CCJ’s ruling comes months after Guyana’s Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George declared that Members of Parliament (MPs) cannot hold both elected and non-elected positions simultaneously.

This ruling, upheld by the Appeal Court, had previously deemed the appointments of Ramkissoon and Browne as unlawful.

Following the Appeal Court’s decision, which was delivered on a Tuesday, Attorney General Anil Nandlall expressed the government’s intention to appeal to the CCJ, emphasizing the need for clarity on this critical constitutional matter.

The controversy began when Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones challenged the legality of Browne and Ramkissoon’s appointments on December 22, 2022.

He argued that, as election candidates, they were disqualified from serving as Parliamentary Secretaries, positions intended for “technocrats” who are not involved in electoral politics. Both Browne and Ramkissoon were sworn in on September 15, 2020, with Browne serving in the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and Ramkissoon in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Jones’s case referenced prior judgments, including a notable decision by Chief Justice Ian Chang in the matter of Desmond Morian vs. The Attorney General and the Speaker of the National Assembly, which similarly ruled against political candidates holding non-elected ministerial positions.

In a twist, Nandlall, who represented Morian in that case while in opposition, is now defending the legality of the current appointments.

He argued that the earlier Court of Appeal ruling was not binding due to procedural issues in the case and insisted that the ratio decidendi – the legal principle or reasoning behind the decision – did not apply to the merits of the appeal.

With the CCJ’s ruling, Ramkissoon and Browne can continue their work in the National Assembly, marking a significant turn in this ongoing legal and political saga in Guyana.