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Posted: Wednesday 4 July, 2018 at 9:37 AM

Diplomatic Passport Saga: Douglas takes Round One

By: Jermine Abel, SKNVibes.com
    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Jul 03, 2018 – JUSTICE Trevor Ward QC will allow for an expert witness to testify in the passport case involving Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Denzil Douglas.
     
    The case seeks to determine Dr. Douglas’ eligibility to sit in the National Assembly as an elected representative, since he is the holder of a Dominican Diplomatic Passport.
     
    Brought by the Attorney General’s Chambers, the case will have the court determine if Dr. Douglas should be barred from the National Assembly since his diplomatic passport allegedly equates to citizenship.
     
    After reserving his judgement last month, Justice Ward handed down the decision on Monday (Jul. 02), and attorney for Dr. Douglas, SC Anthony Astaphan reported that the ruling delivered was of importantance.
     
    He explained that the attorney-general’s position in the case was that he was not “obligated” to find an expertise witness to testify or give relevant evidence on the laws of Dominica, under which they alleged Dr. Douglas pledged allegiance.
     
    “On the other hand, Dr. Douglas’ counsels and legal team argued strenuously that expert evidence was required because you need to establish the relevant law as a matter of fact.  Now that is extremely important because as it stands now, following this ruling, the attorney-general is going to have to get a lawyer from Dominica to give evidence on the circumstances under which the diplomatic passport was acquired and whether there is any law in the Commonwealth of Dominica that makes such an application and passport, and the use of such a passport disqualifying factors.”
     
    Astaphan noted that the attorney-general will rely on cases from Jamaica and other countries that spoke about passports. He suggested that those were “regular passports” after the acquisition of citizenship.
     
    “So in our view, meaning myself, Sylvester Anthony and Angelina Sookhoo Bobb, we think that this is a significant step forward for us in relation to the prosecution of the case. And we look forward to the next set of applications.  We may have to deal with and the trial of the matter,” adds Astaphan.
     
    This is the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy court battle.
     
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