By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now
News Americas, PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Fri. Aug. 14, 2026: Embattled President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ, Justice Winston Anderson, broke his silence Friday, issuing a lengthy statement denying he manipulated judicial panels or influenced the ruling against Guyana’s Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed, while conceding he mishandled two other matters that have engulfed the region’s highest court in crisis.
“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the unauthorised disclosure and publication of confidential material relating to the internal deliberations and confidential correspondence of the Court,” Anderson said, addressing the leaked internal emails first reported by the Trinidad Express, in which five of the CCJ’s six sitting judges accused him of “dictatorial” leadership.
On Mohamed: flat denial, citing unanimity
Anderson addressed the Mohamed extradition case directly, the allegation that has driven the most alarm in Guyana. “Those allegations are entirely unfounded and untrue,” he wrote, explaining that judicial conferences “frequently involve spirited discussion, differing legal analyses and careful consideration of competing views before a final judgment is settled,” and that such exchanges are “not evidence of disagreement within the institution” but of judges doing their jobs. He noted the ruling against Mohamed reflected “COMPLETE UNANIMITY among all seven judges,” and pointed out that in the Court’s Original Jurisdiction, dissenting opinions are never published, standard practice among international courts, not evidence of suppressed dissent.
On the related allegation of “panel fixing,” tied to the removal of Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji from a separate case, D’Almada v Trinidad and Tobago, Anderson said the change was made “solely” over a dress code dispute and “had nothing whatsoever to do with any judicial views of the legal merits of the proceedings.” Going forward, he announced a structural fix: every judge will now be required to sit on every panel unless formally excused for legitimate reason.
On the dress code: a partial admission
Anderson gave an extensive account of the dispute that started it all, a colleague judge wearing traditional national dress rather than a bench jacket during two hearings, which Anderson said conflicted with established CCJ practice and drew concern from senior judicial figures across the region. He removed the judge from one interlocutory panel over the disagreement. “I understand and appreciate the view that I may have approached the matter of the handling of the issue dress code too strongly,” Anderson conceded.
On Guyana: “another course would have been much better”
Perhaps Anderson’s clearest admission concerned his private meetings with Guyana’s President and its Opposition Leader over the more than two-decade delay in substantively appointing the country’s Chancellor and Chief Justice, both currently serving in acting capacities. Anderson said his concern reflected a constitutional principle raised by his two predecessors as CCJ President, not personal preference over who fills the roles. Still, he acknowledged the intervention itself was likely a misstep: “Looking back, I recognise that another course would have been much better. It may have been better to have confined myself to public commentary on the constitutional importance of substantive judicial appointments, as did my predecessors.”
What comes next
The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission, which Anderson chairs, announced August 10th, it will conduct a “transparent and independent review” of the allegations. Former RJLSC member Martin Daly has already said Anderson must recuse himself from any investigation into his own administrative decisions. Multiple Guyanese opposition parties have called for Anderson’s resignation outright.
Anderson closed his statement without resigning, committing instead to the Court’s ongoing work. “I undertake that the Court will continue to hear and determine the cases that come before us… to serve the people of this Region with independence, fairness and integrity deserving of the trust and confidence of the Caribbean people.”
NewsAmericasNow will continue following the CCJ crisis and its implications for the Mohamed extradition case.
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