Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Roxane George, has begun issuing a series of long-awaited, high-profile decisions, an effort widely seen as part of her move to clear the backlog of major rulings she accumulated while serving for several years as Acting Chief Justice.
During a recent broadcast of Issues in the News, Attorney General Anil Nandlall highlighted that Justice George, who was elevated to the post of Acting Chancellor earlier this year, handed down “a series of decisions” on Monday, November 17. He noted, “I suppose that she’s clearing out the outstanding decisions that she had when she acted in the office of Chief Justice.”
Among the rulings delivered was a significant judgment in Zhang Zhenyu v. Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), a decision that directly contradicts last week’s high-profile ruling by Justice Gino Persaud on the legality of post-clearance tax assessments.
Reading from the Chancellor’s written decision, Nandlall noted her unequivocal position on the GRA’s powers: “I do not consider the complaint that the assessment by the PCAU (post-clearance audit unit) was unlawful as any merit… There is no evidence to support the contention that this unit is without statutory power, is illegal and unlawful, and there is most certainly no evidence that it is unconstitutional.”
The Chancellor found that the Customs Act clearly permits reassessment even after goods are entered and cleared, rejecting the applicant’s argument that the GRA’s authority ends once goods leave the wharf.
As she stated: “To accede to the applicant’s contention would mean that an importer could make a false declaration… and once their goods have been entered and cleared, the authority would not be able to conduct a further assessment.”
The application, as well as a request for repayment of over $15 million in reassessed taxes, was dismissed, with costs awarded to the GRA.
Justice George also delivered another ruling the same day, dismissing a case brought by representatives of the Guyana Teachers’ Union and the Guyana Public Service Union, who challenged appointments to the Constitutional Reform Commission. That matter, too, ended with costs, $500,000, to be paid to the Attorney General.
With these decisions and others expected, the Acting Chancellor’s recent activity marks one of the most significant bursts of judicial output from the top of the judiciary in recent months. As Nandlall put it, the Acting Chancellor “handed down a series of decisions” in a single day, an uncommon pace for major constitutional and administrative rulings.
