BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PROGRESS is expected to resume in the ongoing constituency boundaries case soon, as stakeholders on all sides await the arrival of another judge today (Aug. 13).
His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas has been assigned by Chief Justice Hon. Hugh Rawlins to preside over the legal matter, which has been the centre of public discussion in St. Kitts-Nevis for the past month.
Information reaching this media house indicates that Justice Thomas will begin case management tomorrow (Aug. 14), and is anticipated by next Monday (Aug. 17) to begin dealing with the substantive matters before him.
Justice Thomas was appointed to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) in 2002, and during his career in law served as the Attorney-General of Grenada, as well as a Justice of Appeal. Before coming to St. Kitts-Nevis, Thomas was appointed as a High Court Judge in Antigua.
He is the third judge appointed to preside over the constituency boundaries case, following Her Ladyship Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti and His Lordship Justice Francis Belle.
The original application in the case was filed by parliamentarian for the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Hon. Shawn Richards on July 2, and prohibited the Attorney-General and the Constituency Boundaries Commission (CBC) from making any use of a CBC report that had proposed a number of changes to the island’s constituency boundaries.
However, when Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas went ahead and tabled the report in Parliament on July 9, PAM filed a second injunction to bar the Electoral Commission and Supervisor of Elections from acting upon any boundary changes approved by Parliament.
A number of applications and counter-applications then ensued, ending in Contempt of Court charges being brought against the Attorney-General, Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant.
Merchant was found guilty of Contempt of Court last Friday (Aug. 7), and was censured and reprimanded by the Basseterre High Court. Legal counsel for the AG subsequently informed that they have moved to appeal the Court’s decision.
An effort was made by counsel for the AG and CBC to strike out the second injunction filed by PAM so general elections could proceed in the Federation, but it was not granted by Justice Joseph-Olivetti.
Both sides remain confident that the outcome of the court proceedings would be positive, and would bring full resolution to the matter in a timely fashion.
