Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh has issued an order compelling Magistrate Tamieka Clarke to recuse herself from five cases involving the Special Organised Crime Unit on the grounds of apparent bias.

In November 2022, Magistrate Clarke, who was an Attorney in private practice at the time, filed Constitutional proceedings against SOCU. She won that case as the State accepted liability and was awarded damages.

Clarke’s actions against SOCU were triggered by her arrest and detention after advising a client to remain silent while being questioned by SOCU investigators.

With five of its cases now appearing before Clarke in her role as a Magistrate, SOCU approached the High Court to have the Magistrate be removed from hearing the cases owing to the history between the two.

During an initial hearing of the cases in October 2025, the SOCU Prosecutor requested that the Magistrate removes herself from hearing the case, but she refused, resulting in SOCU moving to the High Court.

In his decision, Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh found that the previous legal dispute between Ms. Clarke and SOCU was personal and not a professional disagreement during the course of her practice against the police.

He ruled that justice must be seen to be done, and based on Guyana’s Code of Ethics for Judicial Officers, a judicial officer should disqualify himself/herself from a matter where he/she was a party to a prior personal involvement and where he/she may reasonably give the appearance of bias to any onlooker.

He contended that the Magistrate should have recused herself on her own.

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