St John’s, April 14, 2010 – High Court Judge Justice Errol Thomas today granted two Antigua Labour Party members of Parliament their request for Judicial Review of the Baldwin Spencer administration’s July 2009 decision to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into what is popularly known as the IHI Debt Settlement matter.
Opposition Leader Lester Bird and St Peter MP Asot Michael sought leave for the court to have its say on the constitutionality of bringing them before a Commission of Inquiry for the same matter in respect of which they have been defending UPP court action in three separate jurisdictions for more than four years.
In his 36 page ruling Thomas seemed concerned mainly with “whether the applicants have an arguable case with a reasonable prospect of success”. He also believed that the issue of irrationality has to be addressed in terms of “whether the appointment of the commission in the circumstances is irrational or whether a reasonable government would advise the Governor General to appoint a Commission in these circumstances”.
Justice Thomas concluded that lawyers for Bird and Michael had presented a clear case for judicial review:
“The Court is satisfied that the Applicants have an arguable case for the grant of leave to seek judicial review upon any of the pleaded grounds. The Court is also satisfied that the Applicants have met the standard of proof having regard to the circumstances, the nature of evidence as a whole and as highlighted. And further that the Applicants have a reasonable prospect of success…”
Justice Thomas ordered that “there shall be no public hearings by the Commission of Inquiry until the determination of the judicial proceedings or further order of the Court”. He also ordered the Government to pay the costs of the Antigua Labour Party MP’s.
Bird and Michael were represented by Elliot Mottley QC of Barbados and James Guthrie QC of London. Port of Spain based Senior Counsel Reginald Armour appeared for the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.
The ALP believes this is a major interim victory, for the parliamentary Opposition Party especially given this unnecessary, highly politicized and extremely expensive undertaking at a time when government is struggling to pay public officers on time and unemployment has climbed to 20%.
“Apart from the issues of constitutionality and legal validity, the ALP is also concerned with the wastage of millions on a Commission of Inquiry to feed the UPP’s insatiable appetite for state financed vengeance which is as obscene as it is unconscionable.
“Consequently, this is nothing more than a frivolous and vexatious abuse of process and a scandalous waste of public funds on a witch hunt designed to boost the fortunes of a dying political organization that has long outlived its usefulness to Antigua and Barbuda.
“We are satisfied that the UPP has been forced (by the results of the stolen election on March 12, 2009) to accept that corruption allegations against the ALP have not succeeded in diverting attention from UPP incompetence and the increasing levels of misery that Spencer and company have brought to the lives of Antiguans and Barbudans
“As such, the Jacob Spigelman Commission of Inquiry has been engaged as part of the new state financed UPP election campaign strategy that will use handsomely paid outsiders from England and Australia in a last ditch round of naming and shaming senior members of the Antigua Labour Party.
“The ALP welcomes the decision of Justice Thomas and believes the court process offers hope that we can defeat this obscene and utterly corrupt use of the people’s money for the political benefit of the UPP”.
