Senior Counsel Martin Daly says while he has no objection to Justice Ronnie Boodosingh's elevation to the head of the judiciary, he is questioning the lack of transparency and the poor handling of the process that needs to be explained by not only the Acting President Wade mark but also by former Chief Justice Ivor Archie who announced on Tuesday that he was demitting office on Wednesday.
00:00Senior Council Martin Daly says the appointment of Justice Rani Budusing as the new Chief Justice has left more questions than answers, lingering not only in the minds of the judiciary, but also by and large in the public domain.
00:14Daly, speaking on I-95 this morning, said the sudden move by former Chief Justice Ivor Archie to retire and the hasty process of appointing a new CJ is now under the public's microscope.
00:26Well, that's one of the things they have to answer. As they have to answer, how did it come about that all of a sudden the Chief Justice was going on, was immediately going on retirement.
00:38Those are the things we can't know on the basis of the correspondence that is now in the public domain. We simply can't know those things.
00:45And they need to be explained, and they need to be explained because it will affect the trust and confidence that the public has in the judiciary, and more importantly, it will affect the trust and confidence that people might otherwise repose.
00:58I think we are correct to repose trust and confidence in Mr. Justice Budusing. But if they make his appointment look torturing in some way, then it reflects badly on it.
01:10While Senior Counsel Daly wasn't questioning Justice Budusing's worthiness to the post, he stressed light had to be shone on what he termed a botched appointment, perhaps done in secrecy, haste and without transparency, all of which undermined the process.
01:26But I think it's very unfortunate that Mr. Justice Budusing, who is worthy of his appointment, and who I think will be able to bring some healing to the judiciary after the room was inflicted on it by his predecessor.
01:41It's very unfortunate that the focus has been taken away from his worthiness. But I understand we have to discuss the botched process.
01:49Justice Budusing was officially sworn in on Wednesday by Acting President Wade Mark, who is temporarily performing the duties of President while President Christine Kangaloo is abroad.
01:59Although acknowledging that an Acting President has all the powers of the substantive office, Daly said the issue was not one of legality but legitimacy.
02:08Daly's main concern centered on what he termed the failure of genuine consultation between the Acting President and Opposition Leader Penelope Beckles as required under the Constitution.
02:20He said the refusal to disclose the name of the proposed appointee and the insistence on a rapid response rendered the exercise suspicious.
02:28I do not consider that legitimate consultation. I leave it to the persons who are getting the briefs to decide whether they want to pursue a case about whether it's legal. But it's not legitimate. You have to give me reasonable time first. You have to give me a name or names and you have to give me reasonable time to get back to you on those names.
02:49Daly questioned whether, while there was still correspondence going on between the Opposition Leader and the Acting President Mark and the choice for CJ, was the swearing in ceremony of the CJ already in train.
03:01He said perhaps a constitutional challenge can be mounted in the courts surrounding this appointment and said the pressure needed to be kept on the Acting President Wade Mark and former Chief Justice Ivor Archie to explain what exactly happened behind the scenes.
03:14Daly also questioned the presence of Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander and Chief of Defence Staff Don Polo at the swearing in ceremony stating that their parents made it seem that the executive was linked to the judicial arm which clearly was not a good look. Mark Vasant, TV6 News.
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