Guyana’s Attorney General, Basil Williams says government is yet to make a decision as to whether it will retain external legal services to represent its appeal in the Presidential Third Term case that is currently before the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Williams also said while government has already retained two Queen’s Counsels from Barbados to represent them in the GECOM matter, it is possible that their services may be extended to the presidential term limit case.
However, the AG asserted that no decision has been taken as yet.
Following the 2015 General and Regional Elections, private citizen Cedrick Richardson filed a court case challenging the two term limit imposed on Guyanese Presidents. Former acting Chief Justice Ian Chang had ruled that the presidential term-limit was unconstitutional without the approval of the people through a referendum.
The AG subsequently appealed the decision however former acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Carl Singh, who led the panel of Appeal Court judges, upheld the High Court ruling, saying that the decision on the presidential term limits rested with the people via a referendum and not the National Assembly.
This move to retain external legal services comes on the heel of widespread criticisms of the performance of AG Basil Williams, who said last week that the two Queens Counsels Ralph Thorn and Hal Gallop serves to enrich the jurisprudence in the region.
