High Court rules IDPADA-G has no legal right to continued Govt funding

The High Court has ruled that the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana Country Coordinating Mechanism Inc (IDPADA-G Inc) has no legal entitlement to continued Government funding, according to a statement issued by the Attorney General (AG)’s Chambers and the Legal Affairs Ministry.

The ruling was delivered in writing on June 24 by Chief Justice (as she then was) Roxane George, SC, in the matter brought by IDPADA-G Inc against the AG, Anil Nandlall; Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Charles Ramson Jr; and Finance Minister, Ashni Singh.

According to the AG’s Chambers, the court rejected the substantive claims advanced by IDPADA-G Inc, including allegations of breach of contract, substantive and procedural legitimate expectation, breach of constitutional property rights, and requests for mandamus, exemplary damages and costs.

The court examined whether IDPADA-G Inc had standing to bring the proceedings, whether a contract existed between the Government and the organisation in exchange for annual subventions, whether the organisation had a legitimate expectation of continued funding, and whether it was entitled to be heard before the subvention was discontinued.

While the court found that the applicant would not ordinarily have had standing because it did not exist when the alleged benefits were first granted, it proceeded to hear the matter because the State acknowledged that payments had been made to the organisation.

On the issue of contract, the court accepted the AG’s submission that there was no written agreement, no clear offer or acceptance, no consideration and no sufficiently certain terms capable of creating a legally binding contract. As a result, the claim for breach of contract failed.

The court also rejected IDPADA-G Inc’s argument that it had a substantive legitimate expectation of continued Government funding.

According to the judgement, former President David Granger’s 2016 address represented a policy statement supporting the objectives of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent rather than a promise of financial support to any specific organisation.

The Chief Justice ruled that the Government’s budgetary allocations were made in support of the cause associated with the United Nations programme and not as a private entitlement to IDPADA-G Inc. The judgement further noted that neither IDPADA-G Inc nor its predecessor existed when the 2016 statement was made.

The court also dismissed the organisation’s claim that ending the subvention breached its constitutional right to property and found that it had established no legal right to continued Government funding beyond 2022.

However, the court granted limited procedural relief, holding that the unincorporated body, IDPADA-G, should have been given notice and an opportunity to respond before the Government discontinued the subvention. On that basis, the court ordered that the remaining subvention payments for October, November and December 2022 be paid to IDPADA-G.
No order for costs was made against the State.

In its statement, the AG’s Chambers said the judgement “substantially vindicates” the Government’s position on the principal legal issues and confirms that the Government remains free, as a matter of policy and law, to determine how public funds allocated for national programmes and public causes are distributed.

The court also stated that directing the Government to allocate a specific budgetary sum to IDPADA-G would amount to judicial overreach and affirmed that the Government may change its policy regarding the utilisation of budgetary allocations for the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent.

The State was represented by attorneys Deborah Kumar, Shoshanna V Lall, Ronetta Sargent and Loretta Noel, led by AG Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, MP, who appeared in person.

The AG’s Chambers also stated that the Government remains committed to advancing the objectives of the United Nations resolution establishing the International Decade for People of African Descent and continues to allocate annual funding to organisations representing Afro-Guyanese.

According to the statement, several organisations had complained that they did not benefit from more than $500 million previously allocated to IDPADA-G Inc and had petitioned the Government to distribute the funds directly among multiple representative organisations instead.

The statement further alleged that IDPADA-G Inc’s financial records showed that more than 80 per cent of the funds it received were spent on salaries, rent, meals and administrative expenses rather than on programmes directly benefiting Afro-Guyanese communities.