ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams on Monday described the woman appointed Deputy Registrar of the Deeds Registry as “hapless” and unqualified, saying that she was an imposition by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).What is more, Mr Williams believes the provision to have the JSC appoint the Registrar and the Deputy Registrar came about within the last decade, and he indicated that the government would seek to have this “recent vintage” of the constitution repealed.

Mr Williams, speaking at a press conference at his Carmichael Street, Georgetown office, said that the Deputy Registrar, Ms Zanna Frank, did not meet the qualifications the JSC dictated in its advertisement for the position, that is, that the person should have three years of experience as an attorney or three years of experience working at one of the registries.

After teaching for a number of years, Ms Frank was admitted to the bar in November, 2014. She had applied for a job at the Chambers of the Attorney General to be a state counsel, but she was not accepted by the Public Service Commission.

As such, Mr Williams was baffled that she could be appointed Deputy Registrar. He said that workers at the Deeds Registry have refused to work with Ms Frank.

Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, writing to the press, noted that Article 199 (1) and (3) of the Constitution, provides for the JSC to make the appointment of the Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds.

Accordingly, he said Ms Frank was interviewed and appointed by the JSC but “through a series of machinations engineered by the Attorney-General, this officer is being prevented from performing the functions of her office.”

When the Registrar, Azeena Baksh, was asked to take up her vacation leave, Mr Williams noted that Ms Frank declared herself the acting Registrar.

But he argued that a woman who “knows nothing” about the operations of the Deeds Registry could not assume that position.

Former Attorney General Nandlall argued that the actions of the current Attorney General “consist of a naked usurpation of the functions of the JSC and a gross violation of the Constitution.”

“Not only does it undermine the independence of an important constitutional institution, but it interferes with the functional autonomy of a statutory body corporate, the Deeds and Commercial Registry, which is managed by a Board of Directors in accordance with the provisions of the Deeds and Commercial Registry Act,” Mr Nandlall insisted.

But Mr Williams noted that it was the Board of the Deeds Registry and Commercial Registry which approved of the acting appointment of Ms Penny White, a woman with 29 years of experience in the registry, though not an attorney, when Ms Baksh was urged to utilise her leave.

The Attorney General noted that the JSC did not consult with him on the appointment of Ms Frank. He said he wrote the JSC, whose chairman is Chancellor Carl Singh, last week but has received no response.

As far as Mr Williams is concerned, the JSC violated its own rules for the appointment of the Deputy Registrar. Further, he said the JSC ought not to be making such an appointment, as it amounts to interference in the work of the executive and the judiciary should seek to engender the same separation of powers that is expected of the executive arm of government.

He said that the appointment of Ms Frank has sought to disrupt the work of the Deeds Registry. Up to press time, the Guyana Chronicle was unable to contact Ms Frank for comment.