St. John’s, Antigua: Justice Jennifer Remy yesterday ruled that actions of Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer, to recommend the removal of Sir Gerald Watt QC as chairman of the Antigua & Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) was tainted with illegality and Sir Gerald must retain his position, a report in the Observer said.
Sir Gerald brought Judicial Review proceedings against Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack through the Attorney General, Prime Minister Spencer and Juno Samuel, who replaced him as chairman.
Sir Gerald was seeking 21 remedies, including his reappointment as chairman of ABEC, an injunction prohibiting Samuel from acting as chairman, an injunction prohibiting the prime minister or any of his agents from impeding him from attending the office of ABEC, costs and damages.
During her almost two-hour long delivery of her ruling Justice Remy said, “He continues to hold the office of chairman under Section 4 of the Representation of the People Amendment Act”.
Sir Gerald, who was appointed as chairman of the Commission on October 1, 2005, was removed as head of the body, charged with overseeing elections in Antigua & Barbuda, on January 5, 2011. Before that, he was suspended on July 16, 2010 and faced a tribunal that eventually exonerated him. That still did not stop his termination.
The Observer said that Justice Remy ruled that the PM’s decision to ask for the governor general to remove Sir Gerald from the helm of ABEC was contrary to the Representation of the People Amendment Act, in particular Section 4-2, which outlines the ways a commissioner may be removed. The Act states that a commissioner can only be removed by his inability to exercise his functions (i.e infirmity of body and mind) and misbehaviour.
Justice Remy said the fact Sir Gerald was not given an opportunity to be heard before he was stripped of the chairmanship was procedurally unfair and unlawful and Samuel’s appointment was ultra vires to the constitution, null, void and without legal effect. She further stated that any and all actions by the Prime Minister are “null, void and of no legal effect whatsoever.”
The judge agreed with most, if not all of the legal arguments put forward by Dr. David Dorsett, Sir Gerald’s attorney. She was very critical of the submissions put forward by Sanjeev Datadin, the Attorney for Spencer and Samuel, the Observer report said.
Justice Remy said Datadin’s arguments lacked merit, logic and deviated from logic and reason. The High Court judge also said that Datadin’s reasoning was illogical and inconsistent, in terms of saying who appointed Sir Gerald to the commission.
In one instance, Datadin reportedly said Sir Gerald was appointed by Spencer and therefore could be removed by him. In another case in point he reportedly said that the Governor General appointed Sir Gerald acting on the advice of the PM, the Observer said.
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