Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President Justice Winston Anderson has mounted a detailed defence of his leadership, flatly rejecting allegations that he manipulated judicial panels or attempted to influence judges, while acknowledging that he may have handled aspects of his administration differently.

Anderson’s nine-page statement, issued on August 14, comes five days after the Trinidad Sunday Express on August 9 exposed an extraordinary internal dispute among CCJ judges, based on confidential correspondence that raised allegations about Anderson’s ‘dictatorial” management of the Court, panel composition and the handling of judicial deliberations.

The controversy has particular significance for Guyana because the CCJ is the country’s final court of appeal. The dispute also touches directly on the Court’s recent handling of the extradition case involving Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, in which the seven-member Court unanimously dismissed their appeal on July 29. The CCJ ruled no bias exists in the issuance of the Minister of Home Affairs’ Authority to Proceed (ATP) on the extradition matter.