BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CONTEMPT of court arguments forwarded by People’s Action Movement (PAM) representative Hon. Shawn Richards against Attorney-General Hon. Dr. Honourable Dennis Merchant were accepted by the Basseterre High Court of Justice this morning (Aug. 7).
Merchant, who has been AG for the last three years, has been censured and reprimanded by the Basseterre High Court, which could have serious implications for his professional career. Merchant will also be required to pay legal costs to the claimants in the matter.
The announcement was made at around 10:00 this morning after the presiding judge, Her Ladyship Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti, had reserved her ruling on the matter exactly a week ago.
The charges against Merchant stemmed from a July 2 injunction filed by PAM which barred him from “making use” of the report compiled by the Constituency Boundaries Commission that outlined new electoral boundaries for St. Kitts.
Legal counsel for the opposition party PAM argued that Merchant had either advised incorrectly, or failed to advise the government at all that the report was barred from being put before Parliament, which took place on July 8 and 9.
Speaking to a group of reporters after a brief in-chambers meeting, legal counsel for PAM Constance Mitchum informed that, after considering arguments from both sides, Justice Joseph-Olivetti ruled that the Attorney-General was guilty of being in contempt of the first injunction.
“So, we now know that that whole act was contemptuous, and the AG has therefore been reprimanded by the Court for his behaviour. I think it is heartening for us that the Court has found that that whole process in Parliament, where they laid the report and passed the resolution and proclamation—that that whole fiasco was based on a contemptuous situation in the face of the Court’s injunction,” Mitchum stated.
She explained that although it is a “lighter sentence”, Merchant should resign his post in face of the recent developments.
“We did not want to ask for imprisonment of the Attorney-General in all of the circumstances, but we felt that he should at least be reprimanded and censured. The proper thing to do in a situation like this is for the Attorney General to resign. This is a very serious matter to have the Attorney-General before the Court, who as an officer of the Court has breached a Court injunction, and to be found guilty of contempt is very serious indeed,” Mitcham explained.
Counsel for the Attorney-General Dr. Henry Browne told the press that his team would appeal immediately in order to get a more favourable ruling.
“All is not lost. Courts of Appeal are there and that’s what they are there for. So we intend to strike an appeal against that judgement immediately,” Browne said.
