Questionable Conduct: The Jamaican Political Reality

                                      Summary of Interesting Highlights The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of the Leader of Opposition in the House Of Representatives. Andrew Holness was seeking a reversal of the order of the Full Court ( Daye, McDonald Bishop and Batts JJJ) made on 6 February 2015. By that order, it was declared that: “1   ….the request for and procurement of pre-signed and undated letters of resignation and letters of authorization by the Leader of the Opposition from persons to be appointed as Senators to the Senate of Jamaica, upon his nomination, is inconsistent with the constitution, contrary to public policy, unlawful, and is, accordingly null and void . 2   ….the pre-signed and undated letters of resignation and letters of authorization, as well as the manner of their use to effect the resignation of Senators (  the claimant in parti...

                There has been considerable public debate about the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Holness, decision to appeal the Declaratory Order of the Constitutional Court in the Matter of Arthur Williams v Andrew Holness. In an attempt to expedite the matter, the President of the Court of Appeal, Seymour Panton, has set March 16-17 for the hearing, pushing aside other appeal cases . Such recognises the urgent public interest that attends this constitutional matter. Some have argued that the Leader of the Opposition should just accept the judgement, allow the offended Senators to resume their seats, and unreservedly apologise to the public of Jamaica. Thus this political distraction would fade away as the JLP focuses on matters central to the welfare of the electorate and mobilizing for an electoral victory.   In sum, it is not in the interest of the JLP to have this Senate imbroglio occupy public space for a ...

                                The response of the Senate—the Upper House—to the Declaratory Order by the Constitutional Court in  Arthur Williams v Andrew Holness  [ Claim No. 2012 HCV 06428] is nothing but sheer stupidity . The gist of the findings were a) that the pre-signed undated letters were null and void—ie of no legal effect; b) the Leader of the Opposition has no role whatsoever in the resignation or removal of a Senator; c) Arthur Williams and Christopher Tufton did not resign. The implications are crystal clear: i) Williams and Tufton are still members of the Senate; ii) Nigel Clarke and Ruel Reid were never duly appointed as there was no vacancy. It is not a complicated matter, even though the JLP could have done with a few more Senators. That too would have been inconsistent with the constitution, contrary to public policy, unlawful and, accordingly, null and v...

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

Daryl Vaz has appealed the Chief Justice's ruling that: On Nomination Day, August 7, 2007, he was not qualified to be elected to the House of Representatives for the constituency of West Portland; Vaz' nomination on that day in invalid, null and void and of no legal effect. Hence he was not duly returned or elected as a Member of the House of Representatives. In sum the Chief Justice found that Vaz at the time of his nomination was in breach of S.40(2) (a) of the Constitution of Jamaica, viz: " No person shall be qualified to be appointed as a Senator or elected as a member of the House of Representatives who - (a) is by virtue of his own act under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a Foreign Power or State " Vaz' appeal against the disqualification based on his dual citizenship is centred around: The Chief Justice failed to give effect to the plain meaning of the words of S.40(2)(a); The disqualification does not apply to dual nationals w...

The arguments are in; they now await judgement of the Court of Appeal - the final arbiter in matters involving the Election Petition Act. The judgement of the Court of Appeal will be decisive as it will affect the fate of a number of the sitting members of the House of Representatives as well as those appointed to the Senate . The most profound effect could be the calling of a series of by-elections or a general election - depending on the ruling of the court. The judgement is expected in early 2009 - in excess of 1 1/2 years since the new Parliament was convened. That cannot be a satisfactory situation where the very composition of the said Parliament is being questioned. The matters in issue involve the interpretation of provisions of the Constitution of Jamaica - ostensibly the supreme court of the land. Dependent on the nature of the ruling, it could be inferred that there has been either a conspiracy to subvert the constitution or a sacrifice of the constitution on the altar of p...