BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NO additional transcripts of Constituency Boundaries Commission meetings will be made available to opposition lawyers after it was determined today (Dec. 3) in Court that they do not meet the criteria set forth by the presiding judge.
In a ruling made this morning, resident judge His Lordship Justice Francis Belle denied the claimants’ request for audiotapes and/or transcripts of all six CBC meetings. He however ordered the respondents to submit transcripts of sections of the CBC meetings that made reference to December 16 as the date before which a report must be produced.
Legal counsel representing the CBC in this matter and former Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony spoke for the first time in court today, reporting on the progress made in reviewing the minutes.
Dr. Anthony explained that in a spirit of “candour and frank and full disclosure”, he held discussions with the CBC secretary, the remaining members and the chairman who all stated that to the best of their knowledge there was no mention of a deadline date of December 16. He added that these discussions were carried out separately.
“In relation to December 16 as any cut-off date, that was never in the contemplation of the CBC,” said Dr. Henry Browne, another one of the lawyers representing the government.
This means that there will be no transcripts submitted for the claimants according to the order given by Justice Belle.
Two opposition members bringing the CBC under judicial review, Hon. Mark Brantley, Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary representative of the Concerned Citizen’s Movement (CCM) and Hon. Shawn Richards, lone parliamentarian for the People’s Action Movement (PAM), had cited a number of “inconsistencies” with the minutes of the CBC meetings.
The date December 16 arose as their lawyers said emphasis was placed on that date as a deadline for the CBC report to be produced. They argued that the date is an “irrelevant consideration” to the work of the CBC, though it does mark the fifth anniversary of the current National Parliament’s first sitting, and thus its automatic dissolution as mandated by the Constitution.
Following this afternoon’s hearing, local lawyer representing both parliamentarians, Constance Mitcham, described Dr. Anthony’s statements as “interesting” developments in the overall case.
“This is interesting because they have been hurrying us along saying that December 16 is coming. I think you heard Astaphan himself here in open court saying that December 16 is important to them.
This case is about the CBC and therefore they have now contradicted the presentation of Astaphan when he said December 16 was important,” Mitcham said.
Transcripts of November 11 will be submitted to the claimants, as the government side had already pledged to do. Hearings in the matter continue tomorrow (Dec. 4), at which former CBC member Hon. Vance Amory is expected to take the witness stand.
