Georgetown: Cabinet Tuesday endorsed the action taken by President David Granger to issue a Grant of Respite exempting Minister of Finance, Mr. Winston Jordan from punishment in his private capacity, for judgments incurred prior to his appointment as Minister.
Cabinet condemns the unprecedented and scurrilous attack on a serving Minister of Government by seeking to imprison him in his private capacity.
Cabinet calls on the Courts to protect the Executive from vexatious and partisan action.
The Respite of the execution of punishment imposed on Minister Jordan by an order for Criminal Contempt of Court on June 24, 2019 to the effect that, should he fail by July 8, 2019 to comply with the Order of the Court, that the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana pay the sum of US$2.2 million to Dipcon Engineering Services Limited, he shall be imprisoned for twenty (21) days.
The President in accordance with Article 188 (1) (b) of the Constitution and after consultation with the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Basil Williams, SC granted the respite.
The grant of respite will remain in effect until all appeals and remedies available to Minister Jordan and the State have been exhausted.
The Full Court comprising Justices Simone Morris-Ramlall and Diane Insanally, refused to grant a stay of Justice Sewnarine-Beharry’s order.
Attorney General Basil Williams represented Minister Jordan issued the Full Court with an oral notice of appeal.
The matter had stemmed from a multi-million-dollar contract dispute between the Trinidad-based company, Dipcon and the State.
In 2015, Justice Gino Persaud had ruled that Dipcon recover the sum from government as monies due to the engineering company for infrastructural works done under the previous PPP government.
On June 24, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry issued a contempt order to have Minister Jordan imprisoned for 21 days if he fails to pay the monies to Dipcon by Monday, July 8. Following the contempt order, Attorney General Williams appealed to the Full Court to set aside and/or reverse the order of Justice Sewnarine-Beharry. The Full Court ruled that Williams’s application has no merit.
In his filings to the Full Court, Williams had challenged the jurisdiction of the High Court to issue such an order against the Minister. He contended that Justice Sewnarine-Beharry misdirected herself in law when she exercised jurisdiction to hear the application of contempt against the minister in his private and personal capacity as Minister of Finance for alleged monies owed by the State and Government to Dipcon.
Further, Williams noted that among other things Justice Sewnarine-Beharry erred and misdirected herself in law when she failed to appreciate that contempt proceedings were coercive in nature and such order could not be made against Jordan in his private capacity, since no act was committed by the Minister in his private capacity.
It was Williams’s argument that Jordan in his capacity as Minister of Finance fell under government.
Dipcon’s lawyer, Timothy Jonas, in addressing the Full Court held that while the court has no jurisdiction to issue a coercive order against the government, the contempt proceedings were filed against Jordan, a mere “individual” and not the government. As it is, Jonas submitted that Jordan was liable for criminal contempt over his failure to comply with the judgment of Justice Persaud.
Moreover, Jonas said that there is no reason why the monies cannot be paid since it has already been approved by Cabinet. In this regard, Jonas contended that the Minister’s failure to pay out the monies defeats the purpose of the administration of justice. Jonas pointed out that the Court of Appeal and Caribbean Court of Justice have upheld Justice Persaud’s ruling.
Jonas stressed that Minister Jordan has even failed to comply with an Order Mandamus that was applied for by Dipcon and granted by the Chief Justice Roxane George on November 12, 2018 ordering that the monies be paid on or before January 15, 2019.
Obviously dissatisfied with the judgment of Justice Persaud, Williams filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal which was also dismissed.
Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) in a press statement on Tuesday stated it observed, with great concern, the deliberate and repeated refusal on the part of the government , to honour the judgment of the Court with regard to a payment owed to Dipcon Engineering Services Ltd., since 2009.
“The rule of law must prevail if business is to be conducted in our country with confidence in the government’s respect for the judiciary and a separation of powers between the Executive and courts. The private sector must, at all times, be confident that the principles of sanctity of contracts reinforced by the independence of the Courts will be honoured by the State,” the PSC stated.
The PSC stated that the intervention of the President to protect the Minister of Finance from the law rather than to encourage him to pay the amount owed and thereby follow the rule of law, sends a message that businesses and private investors can be wronged with impunity.
“The Commission must point out that in order for both foreign and domestic investors to do business in our country with any degree of confidence, there must be confident that the rule of law, administered by an independent judiciary, will, at all times, be upheld and respected by the government of the day,” the PSC noted.
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