Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, S.C., has welcomed the High Court’s dismissal of a legal challenge by Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, who alleged bias in the extradition process.
Nandlall explained on Wednesday that the executive branch has specific constitutional and statutory roles in extradition proceedings, emphasising that the Minister of Home Affairs acts lawfully when issuing an authority to proceed under the Fugitive Offenders Act.
“The allegation of bias cannot be directed at the Minister of Home Affairs when she is performing that statutory duty,” the Attorney General stated. “If that is a defence, then every person facing extradition could avoid it simply by entering politics. That cannot be, and is not, the law of Guyana or any other country.”
His remarks followed a ruling by Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh, who agreed with the State’s submissions and dismissed the Mohameds’ case in its entirety on Wednesday, February 4.
The court found that the minister was discharging an executive and statutory function, not a judicial or quasi-judicial one, and therefore no case for bias could be sustained.
“He ruled that a case for bias has not been made out and cannot be made out that the minister is not performing the type of function when she is issuing that authority she’s not performing a judicial or a quasi-judicial function but is simply discharging an executive function and a statutory diktat which parliament has invested her with by virtue of the Fugitive Offenders Act,” Minister Nandlall stated.
AG Nandlall warned that accepting the applicants’ position seeks to undermine Guyana’s extradition law entirely.
“If that is a defence, then every person who is the subject of an extradition request can then enter politics if he knows it is coming, or enter politics after and use that as a basis not to be extradited. That cannot be the law of Guyana, and that is not the law of Guyana or the law of any other country,” the attorney general argued.
As a result, costs of $500,000 were awarded to each respondent in the case: Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond, Attorney General Nandlall, and Magistrate Judy Latchman, who was represented by Attorney-at-law Douglas Mendez.
This was one of two legal proceedings filed by the Mohameds in their attempt to block extradition to the United States, where they face serious criminal charges. While this ruling concludes the bias challenge, a separate constitutional case contesting the Constitutionality of the Fugitive Offenders Act is still pending, with a judgment expected on February 16.
In the meantime, extradition proceedings before the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court will continue as scheduled on Thursday, February 5 and 6.