The Prime Minister has informed the leader of the opposition that he intends to appoint one of the grey eminences of the private bar to be a temporary judge.
Senior Counsel Derek Courtenay will be a Justice of the High Court for two months starting on the first March. He will hold over for a new justice, Bryan Weeks who takes up his post in May.
Senior Courtenay is widely respected and it's just a short stint, but the leader of the opposition says not so fast! Opposition Leader Barrow has written to the Prime Minister saying, quote, "While on merits the Opposition offered no objections to Derek Courtenay's appointment to the High Court as a matter of legality Mr Courtenay cannot be appointed due to his age of 87..." End quote.
Barrow points out that section 98 (1) of the Constitution explicitly states that no one appointed to the Supreme Court can be older than seventy-five years.
