CCJ sets a date for hearing the Guyana election petition appeal
A search is underway near Curaçao for two crew members of the oil tanker “Cetus” reported missing at sea.
The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard reported that it received a distress call from the ship and its crew indicating that they had to abandon the vessel after it began sinking.
A patrol plane and a US Coast Guard helicopter were sent out, and they saw 14 crew members and a dog floating in two life rafts in different directions about 160 miles northwest of Curaçao.
The Coast Guard’s Rescue and Coordination Centre (RCC) contacted the crews of the nearby MELBA and STAVANGER vessels to rescue the distressed sea fearers.
The vessels transported the rescued crew members to Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, where they would be able to travel to their home countries.
Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse had filed the elections petition. They were contending that the elections were unlawfully conducted and that the results (if undertaken lawfully) were affected or might have been affected by unlawful acts or omissions.
They also argued that from those polls, it is Granger who should be declared the duly elected President of Guyana.
On December 21, last year, the Guyana Court of Appeal, by a 2-1 majority ruling, said it had jurisdiction to hear the petition's appeal.
Chancellor Cummings-Edwards and Justice Dawn Gregory ruled in favour, while Justice Rishi Persaud dissented.
Justice Jacob Wit, who chaired Tuesday’s case management conference, told the lawyers for all the parties, said that appellants will file a joint record of appeal no later than June 7 and file their submissions on or before June 14, with the respondents filing their proposals by June 28.
“There shall be no reply; submissions shall not exceed a total of 12 pages inclusive of footnotes…. (and) the hearing of this appeal will be held on Tuesday, 19th July at 10:00 a.m. (local time) by video conferencing….”
Justice Wit said the lawyers for both the appellants and respondents would have 60 minutes to make their oral submissions with the counsels for the other respondents “if they wish to speak, they have 45 minutes to be divided among themselves.” There will be a reply by the appellants of 20 minutes in total.
The CCJ also ruled that the third respondent in the matter would be the chief elections officer.
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