Office of the Parliamentary Representative – St. Christopher 3, February 28th, 2013 -- The Honourable Sam Condor today has expressed his humble gratification with the ruling of Mr. Justice John Benjamin, QC, in the case brought by himself and the Honourable Shawn Richards against the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, the Attorney General and Mr. Jason Hamilton, challenging the appointment of the said Mr. Hamilton as this country’s Attorney General.
Justice Benjamin, ruling in favour of Mr. Condor and Mr. Richards, sent a strong signal that the Courts will stand in protection of the Constitution, the rule of law and parliamentary democracy in this country.
It is to be noted that our Constitution declares that it, and no man, or no office, is the supreme law of this land.
And the learned judge was guided accordingly.
Indeed, the judge very pointedly stated that the Prime Minister, in his quest to have Mr. Hamilton appointed as this country’s Attorney General, chose the “path which was not permissible by the Constitution”.
Justice Benjamin then went on to say that “as inconvenient as it might be, the Constitution must be obeyed” and “rule by law cannot be achieved by sacrificing constitutionality on the altar of expediency”.
When our country’s Prime Minister finds himself on the receiving end of judicial comments of this nature, our country is embarrassed. The people do not deserve that.
Constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and social and political justice have not come easily for the people of this country. And the process of protecting those fundamental principles is as challenging as the process of achieving them.
Only 61 years ago did the ordinary man and woman of this country get the right to elect representatives of their choice; and those of us who have been, and are, privileged and blessed to be elected by the people, are morally and ethically bound to respect our people by fiercely and in an exemplary manner upholding the Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law, rather than bringing our country and its institutions into disrepute and its people into ridicule, as has happened here at the hands of a leader who has lost his way.
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