BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER a one week hiatus in the legal saga between the opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) and the Attorney General concerning proposed changes to constituency boundaries, a new judge has been assigned to continue the court hearings.
SKNVibes has been reliably informed that Grenadian Honourable Madame Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti, currently presiding over the British Virgin Islands (BVI) High Court, was appointed by Chief Justice Hugh Rawlins last Friday (Jul. 17). She is expected to arrive in St. Kitts next Monday (Jul. 27) and will preside over the court hearing for one week.
Joseph-Olivetti was called to the Bar in Grenada in 1981 after five years of formal schooling. In the ensuing 21 years, she worked in her private practice at home and for the Government of the BVI before she being appointed a High Court Judge in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in 2002.
After the presiding judge of the Boundaries Commission case, His Lordship Justice Francis Belle, recused himself upon request of the respondents last Tuesday (Jul. 14), it became necessary for Chief Justice Hugh Rawlins to assign a judge to the case so that the substantive matters could be heard.
Prior to his recusal, Belle indicated that statements by the Prime Minister regarding the Court adjourning to accommodate an emergency meeting of Parliament on July 8 were not truthful. This caused the legal counsel of the respondents to ask the judge to step down from the case and be replaced.
With a new judge assigned to rule on the matter, legal counsels for both sides have stated their confidence that justice shall now be fairly served.
Counsel for the Attorney General and the Boundaries Commission Sylvester Anthony told SKNVibes that his team of lawyers has not changed its position, underscoring that he is very confident in the arguments being put forward by his side.
“Our confidence has nothing to do with the judge. We were confident in Justice Belle, but it’s just that he made some statements [we questioned] and so we had to ask him to recuse himself. We have confidence in the judge... and if the judge agrees with us, the matter shouldn’t take very long,” he noted.
Anthony also informed that the respondents have applied to appeal the order set by the Court that would firstly deal with Contempt of Court accusations made against the Attorney General, Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant. He said it is his expectation that the appeal would be heard in due course.
Meanwhile, one legal counsel representing PAM, Constance Mitcham, told this media house that she has great confidence in the judicial system of the Eastern Caribbean, and that her team is ready and willing to argue its case “for the people of the country”.
“We believe that we have a very good system of laws, so we have confidence that the case would be heard in a judicial manner. We have every confidence that we are right; we are fighting for the people of the country. We do not believe that boundary changes should be made so close to general elections to put the people in a state of confusion,” she stated.
The case of the boundary changes has seen a number of interesting developments over the last three weeks, and compelling arguments have been put forth by both sides. The original injunction filed by Hon. Shawn K. Richards on July 1 barred any use of the report emanating from the Constituency Boundaries Commission.
However, Prime Minister Douglas proceeded to lay the report before Parliament for discussion, which caused PAM to file a number of new injunctions against the Government, this time enjoining the Governor General, the Supervisor of Elections and the Electoral Commission.
A chain of applications and counter-applications to the Basseterre High Court has caused a buzz in the local and regional legal fraternities, as all stakeholders prepare for next week’s hearings.
