Address of His Excellency Brigadier David Granger President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana at the swearing-in ceremony of the Judicial Service Commission on May 17, 2017
Judicial Service Commission
The Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana mandates (at Article 134 (1)) that: “There shall be a Judicial Service Commission.”
The ‘Constitution’ also vests the Judicial Service Commission with the authority to make appointments and to remove and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices.
The Judicial Service Commission is an indispensible element of Guyana’s legal framework. The ‘Commission’ is the guardian of judicial autonomy. It is the defender of its independence. It is the protector of its integrity and impartiality.
The JSC is intended to insulate judicial appointments from political partisanship and personal and other biases. It is a mechanism which ensures that judicial officers will be appointed on the basis of their competence and integrity.
The JSC is obliged to ensure that its recommendations for appointments of judicial officers flow from a dispassionate and objective process and are based on clearly defined criteria applied in assessing the appropriateness of appointees.
The JSC upholds the independence of the judiciary. It ensures by its diligence that judicial appointees possess the attributes and embody the personal values which make them capable and willing to resist being influenced by improper partisan and personal interests.
The JSC is the custodian of the values and standards of ethical and legal probity by judges and judicial officials.
The JSC must zealously ensure that the personal conduct of judges does not bring the judicature into disrepute. It must preserve and protect the system’s integrity.
I congratulate the members of the Judicial Service Commission on their appointments. I extend best wishes to them in discharging their mandate to safeguard the high ideals and standards which should characterize our judicature. I thank you.