BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Aug. 02.2018 – JUSTICE Trevor Ward QC has awarded Dr. Denzil Douglas legal fees resulting from the case brought against him by Cuthbert Mills, who challenged the eligibility of the Leader of the Opposition.
Dr. Douglas, who is the Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Six, was taken to court by Mills over his Dominican Diplomatic Passport, which allegedly equates to him holding citizenship of that country.
However, Dr. Douglas’ lawyers argued for the case to be thrown out on several grounds, including the fact that a similar case was already before the court, and Justice Ward dismissed that case.
In their application, lawyers for the opposition leader, including Angelina Sookoo-Bobb made an oral submission for Dr. Douglas to be awarded his legal cost for having to fight that particular matter.
The judge on Monday (Jul. 30) handed down his decision, awarding Dr. Douglas the legal cost.
“Justice Ward deliberated on our written submission. Our position was that in elections matters and particularly where the court found that Mr. Mills’ claim was an abuse of process, Dr. Douglas should be entitled to cost... meaning determined at a later date after we would have filed our legal invoices.”
The attorney-at-law further disclosed that the legal team for Mills argued its position, stating that cost should not be awarded to Dr. Douglas because their case was important, and is a matter of public interest.
Sookoo-Bobb noted that as far as Mills’ lawyers were concerned, Dr. Douglas took too long to ask for the matter to be struck out.
“The court agreed with us that he is entitled to legal cost, particularly, because Mr. Mills claim was an abuse of the courts process, and Mr. Mills cannot come under the umbrella that his claim was of public importance,” she added.
The parties have 21 days to agree on the quantum of cost that should be paid to Dr. Douglas. According to Sookoo-Bobb, in the event that a the parties cannot agree to a cost, Dr. Douglas’ lawyers will submit their bills and ask the court to order Mills to make payment.
