BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LAWYERS representing the opposition parliamentarians in the ongoing judicial review case have made a request for Attorney-General Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant to be cross-examined – an application which has caused some contention and has delayed the judge’s recusal hearing until tomorrow (Dec. 15).
At the beginning of this morning’s court proceedings, counsel representing the respondents in the matter Arundranauth Gosai informed that the claimants, opposition parliamentarians Hon. Mark Brantley and Hon. Shawn Richards, had filed an application requesting for the Attorney-General Hon. Dr. Dennis Merchant to be cross-examined in the recusal hearing.
Gosai explained that it is “not common” for an applicant to be cross-examined because he/she requests that a judge be recused. He argued that the matter should be strictly between the respondents and the judge, strongly stating that “the recusal is not a trial... the application should not be granted”.
Lead counsel for Brantley and Richards in this matter, Vincent Byron explained to the Court that the application was filed in response to a December 10 affidavit filed by Merchant in support of arguments raised by his side for the judge to recuse himself from the case.
Byron alleged that the affidavit is “not full and frank in its disclosure... of the events that took place”, adding that there was no authority cited to prove that the claimants could not cross-examine the AG.
In response to presentations by both sides, presiding judge Justice Francis Belle said it might be “very useful” for the AG to be subjected to cross-examination. From reading the affidavit of the Attorney-General, Justice Belle indicated that some statements in the affidavit were “totally untrue” and that in the interest of justice and maintaining the integrity of the Court it would be “desirable” for the AG to be cross-examined.
Justice Belle was expected to hear arguments for his recusal today, following lawyers representing the government calling upon him to remove himself from the judicial review of the Constituency Boundaries Commission, a constitutionally-appointed body responsible for reviewing the number and delimitations of constituency boundaries.
After a brief break and in-chamber session with lawyers for both sides, Justice Belle announced that the hearings would continue tomorrow (Dec. 15).
Lawyers were tight-lipped about the matter, but one of the lawyers representing the government in these proceedings, Sylvester Anthony, told the press that the adjournment is to allow both sides to “take full instructions from our clients”.
