Dear Editor,
Section 139 of the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia outlines the qualifications for appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court. It specifies the minimum legal and judicial experience required for eligibility. Specifically, Section 139 stipulates that a person is qualified to be appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court if they: 1. Have served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal, or as a judge of a court with similar jurisdiction in a common law country, for at least five years; or 2.
Have practiced as a legal practitioner (lawyer) before a court with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction in a common law country for at least twelve years.
The section also provides that a person is qualified to be appointed as chief justice if they are already qualified to be appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court or have served as a judge of a superior court in a common law country for at least ten years. Relationship with Section 138: Section 138 concerns the appointment process, stating that the President appoints the Chief Justice (after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission) and appoints other Supreme Court Justices on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission. Section 139, by contrast, concerns who is legally eligible to receive such appointments.
So, does Section 139 of the Gambian Constitution empower President Barrow to appoint the Chief Justice of The Gambia? Yes, President Adama Barrow may exercise his constitutional power to appoint the chief justice, but only after complying with the constitutional requirement to act in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission. The requirement of consultation means the President must genuinely seek and consider the Commission’s views before making an appointment. However, under the prevailing interpretation of the 1997 Constitution, consultation does not necessarily mean the President is legally bound to follow the Commission’s advice unless the Constitution expressly requires appointment “on the recommendation” or “on the advice” of the:
A. The Judicial Service Commission (recommends a candidate)
B. President Barrow nominates or appoints (that recommended candidate)
C. The NA confirms the appointment before the individual assumes office.
My concern is: the distinction between consultation and binding recommendation is one of the recurring debates in Gambian constitutional law because it affects the balance between executive authority and judicial independence.
Dr Lamin Keita
Indiana, USA
A response to DA Jawo
Dear Editor,
Hon Demba Ali Jawo, your tone is sharp, but still, we hear you. I’m a board member, and I’m the Chairman of the recently (about a month) ago, created board subcommittee on broadcasting. I do not want to get into a public debate on the constitutional interpretation of the role of GRTS. However, I think we can say that the democratic role of the national broadcaster as perceived in the constitution was premised on available institutional (laws and policies), financial, and human resources capacities in the corporation. After more than two decades of its creation, including your time as the Minister, GRTS is only now undergoing critical policy based institution building. Clearly, if the requisite leadership institutional capacity was built (DA Jawo) at your time and in the years referenced in your post, GRTS would have been in an even higher, and more strategic leadership position than it is now in today’s unprecedentedly fast expanding, fast modernising, competitive and challenging media industry, in a political era when the Gambia is a freer, more open, more participatory, and more democratic society. Remember Hon DA, The Gambia is emerging from the rubble of an enduring dictatorship that crippled the private press and dominated the broadcast media consistently for two decades. Thank God, today, Gambian media is so open and free that every other public interest features or news is available and accessible on a wide range of audio-visual platforms across the country. That said, the Gambian public is a key stakeholder and shareholder of the corporation, and accordingly, public opinion is always an important source of data in our on-going institution building and modernisation process of the nation’s broadcaster. GRTS will always seek to make the best use of public funds and maximise return on investment in public broadcasting.
Alhagi Kemo Conteh
Board chair of subcommittee on broadcasting
