Judgments, decisions, orders of the Court must be obeyed by all – Chancellor Singh

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Following the reaction of the combined political Opposition to the court ruling, which stipulates that they cannot slash government’s budget, Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Carl Singh has said that the decision by Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang should be respected.

In an invited comment on the issue, Justice Singh told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that the principle of “obedience to the law” requires every citizen to respect and obey judgments/decisions and orders of the courts.

The Chancellor noted that, “the general principle is that no matter how erroneous or flawed an order of a court may be perceived to be, that order must be respected, obeyed and/or complied with until it is set aside by a superior court. The doctrine of the separation of powers does not insulate any branch of government or the representatives of such branch   from the obligation to show respect for and obedience to orders of the courts. Where there is defiance and disobedience to orders of the courts, the result is a state of anarchy, chaos, and confusion.”

Both the Leader of the Opposition, David Granger and Leader of the Alliance for Change, Khemraj Ramjattan have indicated publicly that the ruling is flawed.

Both parties have since noted that they will still slash the 2014 budget when it is presented in the National Assembly in April. As a matter of fact, Granger has hinted that the APNU will disapprove the entire budget, if it is not in the interest of the people.

If the combined opposition exercises this constitutional right of disapproving the entire budget, then it will force the country’s President to dissolve Parliament and call national elections.