Skip to main content

Holness vs The Constitution of Jamaica

The  Constitution recognises only one member  of those not supporting the Government. That individual is designated as  "Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition". As such he/she is a creature of the Constitution of Jamaica and is sworn to uphold that fundamental document in pursuit of certain specified functions.


The Supreme Court of Jamaica has found in a unanimous declaratory order that Andrew Holness has acted 
a) inconsistent with the Constitution,
 b) contrary to public policy, and
 c) unlawfully. 

That would not be of national importance if Andrew Holness was an ordinary member of the public, even a John Doe. It would only attract the  cursory  interest if he was only an Opposition Member of Parliament.

But Andrew Holness is the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

Interesting Questions:
  • Can he maintain that lofty and constitutionally important position if those findings are allowed to stand? 
  • Are those findings by a court of law ip so facto disqualify Andrew Holness from continuing to hold such a constitutional position? 
  • Is it within the spirit of the Constitution of Jamaica  that the Leader of the alternate governing party be one who --- whilst occupying that constitutional office ---- was found by a court of law to have been acting unconstitutionally, contrary to public policy and unlawfully ?
The Leader of the Opposition is accorded no role in the resignation of a member of the Senate. In legal terms he has no locus standi. This contrasts with his specified role in advising the Governor- General as to persons he wishes to nominate to the Upper House.

Discussion Points:
  • It is of no import that Holness "did not intend to act unconstitutionally". The fact is that a Court of law has found that he did act unconstitutionally.
  • Holness may gain mere sympathy for placing reliance on a group of attorneys who gave him bad advice resulting in what "can only be described as the ill-conceived and nonsensical terms of the letters...."[para 154]. 
  • Latest reports  are interesting : "Underscoring the significance of the ruling, Holness reiterated that he has referred it to a team of attorneys to research and advise him on any implications it may have on the country’s constitutional arrangements"
  •  One can only hope that it is not the same group, without Williams, that is now tasked with advising the Opposition Leader: 
  • That Arthur Williams was found to have designed, signed and delivered the letters to Holness may have been central to the Court's decision not to award him costs (which usually follows the successful); but in no way absolves Holness from the unconstitutionality of his actions.
  • The Supreme Court has found that the pre-signed undated letters  that Holness had requested were "null and void". Holness has said that he had returned the letters long before the Supreme Court ruling. The return is of no moment. He should not have requested them in the first place. 
  • Moreover, Holness as Leader of the Opposition had no business communicating with the Governor General in the matter of the resignation of members of the Senate. Indeed, the Governor General should have ignored the correspondence. At the very lest, the involvement of the Leader of the Opposition should have raised "red flags".
  Appeal:

  • The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of the Leader of the Opposition which sought to overturn the ruing of the Constitutional Court. ( See our Holness' Appeal Dismissed )

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Appealing the By-Election Order

Abraham Dabdoub's appeal against the Chief Justice's ruling can be divided into two overlapping and intertwined phases: That the Chief Justice erred in law by failing to award the seat to the only duly nominated candidate on Nomination Day, August 7, 2007 in the constituency of West Portland; and That the Chief Justice erred in law by failing to recognize and properly apply the distinction between " status " and " conduct " in coming to her decision on disqualification based on dual citizenship. Numerous cases on votes being declared to be "thrown away" and the next candidate being duly seated by the court are cited. The detailed submissions are set out below: Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law

By-Election Predisposition

Introduction A massive amount of time and resources have been devoted to the issue of the course to be properly taken once a victorious electoral candidate has been found to be "disqualified" under S. 40 of the Constitution of Jamaica. Simply put, the crux of the matter is whether the second place candidate should, without more, be accorded the seat by the court; or that the said election be deemed null and void and a by-election ordered to decide the people's representative. This matter consumed inordinate amounts of energy - judicial and otherwise - due primarily to the silence of the Constitution on what recourse should be adopted in such circumstance. A cardinal tenet of democratic government is that the people must decide their representatives and not a select grouping - no matter their qualification or status. The Constitution of Jamaica fully recognized this imperative even though it expressly delegates the determination of questions as to membership of either Ho...

Voiding the Budget

(Unedited Version) The Budget Debate is a critical exercise in outlining the measures by which the Government intends to raise revenue to fund its programmes and the business of the bureaucracy. The bill is ultimately passed by the legislators thereby giving effect to the adage: “No taxation without representation.” The principle is the rationale why many bills must originate in the Lower House (Parliament) where the people’s representatives have the sole authority to bring matters of taxation. The Chief Justice of Jamaica has interpreted the Section of the Constitution of Jamaica dealing with those qualified to be elected or appointed to the House of Representatives. The ruling has the effect of deeming those Members of Parliament and Senators holding US passports ineligible to sit in the Parliament of Senate. This has profound implications for the passage of the Budget as there are numerous Members on both sides of the aisle who are in this offending position. Profound Questions Can...