The President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Justice Winston Anderson this afternoon admitted having direct talks with President Irfaan Ali and then Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, about the substantive appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice in Guyana late last year.

Looking back on the issue, he now says he believes he should have perhaps taken a different path.

While his predecessors made public statements on the issue during their time at the helm of the Regional Court, Justice Anderson reportedly held multiple conversations with both the President and the then Opposition Leader on the issue during a visit to Guyana, reportedly pressing the Opposition Leader to agree to the President’s nominees.

In a statement this afternoon that mostly addressed the recent controversy surrounding the leak of internal emails at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Justice Anderson touched on the Guyana judicial appointments as the issue has found itself on the front burner in wake of the controversy surrounding him and his management of the CCJ.

Justice Anderson explained that during an October 2025 visit to Guyana, he spoke separately with the President of Guyana and with the Leader of the Opposition at the then time, in the hope that agreement might be reached on substantive appointments to those offices.

He said the discussions were frank and undertaken solely in the interests of the administration of justice and judicial independence and did not produce the outcome he hoped for.

The two top judicial positions in Guyana remain without substantive appointments.

Anderson said looking back now, he recognises that another course would have been much better, and it may have been better to have confined himself to public commentary on the constitutional importance of substantive judicial appointments, like his predecessor did.

He said his only concern has been the preservation of judicial independence and the constitutional integrity of the Guyanese judiciary, adding that the considerations alone informed his actions and comments.

He said his concerns were not motivated by any political or other preference, personal interest, or any desire to intervene in the domestic affairs of Guyana beyond what he regarded as his responsibility as President of the final appellate court for Guyana to ensure constitutional protection of the judiciary.

Earlier this week, former Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, recalled receiving multiple calls from Justice Anderson on the issue and seeking his agreement to the President’s nominees.

Mr. Norton said he became concerned after Justice Anderson made reference to the then Acting Chancellor, Yonette Cummings, agreeing to an early retirement package. Norton had long indicated his support for Justice Cummings to be appointed as substantive Chancellor and Justice Roxane George being appointed as substantive Chief Justice.

The President’s preference was for Justice George to become the Chancellor and Justice Navindra Singh to be appointed Chief Justice.

With the surprise early retirement of Justice Cummings under suspicion that she was forced out of office, the President made the two acting appointments of Justice George and Justice Singh, with no substantive appointments being made. A new Opposition Leader has been in place for over six months and there has been no move by the President to seek his agreement on any substantive appointments to the top judicial posts.

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