Criminal defamatory libel ruled unconstitutional; Summons served outside Guyana deemed unlawful -Acting Chief Justice in Rickford Burke case

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George in a major ruling this morning declared that the charge of criminal libel is unconstitutional, as she dismissed a charge that had been filed by the Police against overseas based Guyanese human rights and political activist, Rickford Burke.

The Acting Chief Justice also ruled that the move by the Police to have one of its Officers travel to the US to serve a summons on Mr. Burke was also unlawful.

On the charge of Defamatory Libel, Justice George said she has concluded that Section 113 of the Criminal Offenses Act, Chapter 801, is unconstitutional as being in violation of Article 146, which guarantees freedom of expression.

The Judge told the Court that the threat of State action through the criminal law amounts to overreach and does not fall within the exceptions to Article 146, which guarantees freedom of expression.

Justice George said If someone feels aggrieved by what has been said about them, they may file a civil suit, and it should not be for the State, through any law enforcement arm, to charge persons for criminal defamation.

She said in the particular case against Mr. Burke, the charges are vague as they do not specify what exactly are the defamatory libel that was published.

She said it is not enough on a criminal charge to simply say that someone has been libeled, explaining that an accused must know precisely what are the words allegedly used by him or her that led to the charge.

Acting Chief Justice George said the charges do not disclose what is the alleged defamatory language stated, and the summons that was produced by Police Officer Sarabo did not refer to Section 33. She said it remains a mystery what laws were being used to file the charges.

The Judge also questioned how it is that Burke was being accused of a crime at Lusignan in Guyana when he has been living in the United States for 27 years, and has never returned.

She said it is evident that the Prosecution did not disclose to the Magistrate that the Burke was not in Guyana, and could not have been at Lusignan as stated in the charge, because he resides overseas and had been so for many years without having returned.

Justice George said If that was disclosed to the Magistrate, then she most likely would have declined to issue the summons under her hand against Mr. Burke.

The Judge said the service of the summons on Mr. Burke in the US was unlawful, since the summons would only have efficacy within the geographical boundaries of Guyana.

She said service of a summons outside the jurisdiction of Guyana means that such service would be unlawful and therefore invalid.

Justice George concluded that the proposed service of the summons was not established and in any event, it was unlawful. She queried whether advice was even sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the matter.

The Acting Chief Justice awarded costs for the applicant in the matter, Rickford Burke, in the sum of $500,000 from each of the named respondents in the matter.

The Police had filed the charge against the activist, Rickford Burke, following a complaint by the owner of BM Soat Auto Sales, Afras Mohammed, about statements that Burke allegedly featured on his social media page from disgruntled customers of the car dealership.

Mr. Burke was represented by Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde.

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