From Caribbean News Now

ROSEAU, Dominica — The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has issued a media statement denying allegations of corruption made by Dominican lawyer and show promoter, Cabral Douglas.

“Mr Douglas’ claim of a politically motivated decision appears to stem from the presence of the court’s president at the 16 to 17 February 2017 intersessional meeting of the heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The president of the court, who is also the chairman of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC), attended this meeting with members of the RJLSC to present information to the plenary of heads on the commission’s behalf. Such a meeting is an institutional feature of relationship between the court and CARICOM,” the CCJ said.

Douglas had previously lodged an official complaint with the RJLSC citing numerous alleged irregularities stemming from the recent decision of the court in Cabral Douglas v Dominica (CCJ).

Such alleged irregularities included but were not limited to bias/political interference resulting from CCJ president, Sir Dennis Byron, not only attending the heads of government meeting referred to, but announcing that the court had reached a decision, in favour of the defendant country, Dominica, from the same meeting in the presence of the defendant’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit.

Douglas noted in response that, as the CCJ confirmed in its statement, Byron was in fact in the presence of the defendant prime minister at the material time of the court’s announcement in favour of the defendant, and was probably why he never attended his own court to deliver its decision.

“To reiterate, we find this to be most disturbing and improper conduct in any judicial proceedings creating the suspicion of political interference and/or bias. I’m quite confident that any objective commission would agree that the appearance of bias and/or political interference cited in my complaint letter is overwhelming and clearly established for all to observe,” Douglas said.

He added that the CCJ statement also confirmed what would appear to be a conflict of interest for Byron as the president of the court accused of bias on the one hand, and also the president of the RJLSC responsible for maintaining the independence and integrity of the court, on the other.

“This constitutes a clear conflict of interests, as I am sure the Commission would also agree, notwithstanding the fact that Sir Dennis Byron sits as its president.

“So at the end of the day, at the Caribbean’s highest court you have a presiding judge, meeting with a defendant, during pending legal proceeding, and this same judge is sitting as president of the very commission responsible for maintaining the independence of the court, to which my complaint is directed.

“As I have indicated, I have lodged the complaint of what is clearly improper judicial conduct with the Commission, in the interest of maintaining the integrity and independence of the court, and I eagerly await the publication of the findings of the Commission in due course,” Douglas concluded.

IMAGES:

Cabral Douglas

CCJ President, Sir Dennis Byron (L) with Dominica prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit (2R)

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-CCJ-denies-corruption-allegations-34141.html

See related story published April 9 2017 “Aggrieved CCJ plaintiff files formal complaint with legal services commission” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/aggrieved-ccj-plaintiff-files-formal-complaint-with-legal-services-commission/

See related story below:

Corruption at the CCJ?

By Cabral Douglas BA, LL.B From Caribbean News Now

“Hostile, emotional and irrational…” are just some of the unsavoury adjectives used by Emile Ferdinand QC to describe me in a recent interview. Indeed, the senior Caribbean jurist came out swinging in defence of Sir Dennis Byron, and his colleagues at the CCJ, in defence against corruption allegations levelled against them by me in a recent WINFM interview.

In the interview I called the integrity of the court into question due to several irregularities arising from the most absurd decision in the Tommy Lee Sparta matter where the court ruled the private entity who contracted to receive entertainment services from a Jamaican firm in a sector approved by the heads of government, has no standing at the CCJ to bring a lawsuit against Dominica.

The government of Dominica without just cause, decided to deny entry, arrest, detain and deport Tommy Lee and his Jamaican entourage, causing the cancellation of the concert the applicant was hosting at his privately owned entertainment venue in Portsmouth, Dominica.

According to Mr Ferdinand in his defence of the integrity of the court, when Sir Dennis Byron was president of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda he would regularly meet with United Nations officials, therefore there is nothing irregular or abnormal about Sir Dennis Byron meeting with the heads of government in Guyana.

I must say that I was quite shocked to hear such an eminent legal luminary from our region putting forward such a ridiculous argument.

The UN Security Council is the body that set up the International Criminal Tribunal in Rwanda, and was responsible for its administration, so yes, it would be normal for Sir Dennis Byron to update them, but in this case, Cabral Douglas v Dominica, Dominica is the defendant in the case!

In other words, they are the ones that are on trial…

Is Mr Ferdinand QC suggesting that it would be normal/acceptable for Sir Dennis Byron to privately meet with the African warlords on trial for committing genocide and other crimes against humanity while the trial was in progress?

How could it be normal/acceptable for any judge at any level to be meeting with a defendant in a case, while the case is in progress/pending? Then to make matters worse, in this instance, Sir Dennis Byron announces that the court will be ruling in favour of the defendant, on the most dubious grounds I might add, on the very same morning of that meeting!

What you are seeing is the appearance of corruption at the highest level, which brings the CCJ as a court into disrepute, and has absolutely nothing to with sour grapes on the part of the applicant, as suggested by Emile Ferdinand, QC.

Sir Dennis Byron knows very well that he could never do that in the white man’s court, and this is exactly what I referred to as the “slave” mentality in my case commentary entitled: Nothing Could be Further From the Truth.

If Sir Dennis Byron had embroiled himself in such shenanigans in a white man’s court, he is too educated and experienced not to know that a mistrial would be declared immediately, he would be investigated and removed from the case, and the case would be tried over again, causing a big scandal, and a loss of confidence in the court by the public.

But because of the slave mentality that has been internalized by our legal fraternity in the region, instead of seeking to maintain the integrity of the court by calling for the immediate resignation of Sir Dennis Byron, you hear prominent QCs telling the people of the Caribbean that judges meeting with defendants during trials against them is normal!

On what planet is that normal?

In any credible court in the civilized world there would be at least an investigation into this by an impartial commission.

And, for those like Emile Ferdinand QC and others who argue that our regional court is credible and no different from the Privy Council in England, here is your big chance to prove it by joining me in holding the CCJ to the same standard that the Privy Council and other credible courts around the world are held to, which is exactly what I’m calling for here.

For starters: In what capacity did Sir Dennis Byron attend the CARICOM heads of government meeting? Was the pending case discussed at the meeting? Did Sir Dennis Byron meet with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit privately? Did Sir Dennis Byron meet with CARICOM secretary general, and Dominican national, Irvin LaRocque? If so, was the case discussed? Did Roosevelt Skerritt and/or LaRocque have an undue influence on the decision? Is there any significance to the fact that the decision was announced in the very morning of 16 February 2017 when the meeting took place?

If Sir Dennis Byron is asking Caribbean countries to delink from a century old credible institution of justice like the Privy Council in favour of the CCJ, on the premise that the CCJ is a credible court, then I think it would be reasonable to expect him to start conducting the affairs of the court in a credible and transparent manner, in order to earn the confidence of the people of the region.

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Commentary%3A-Corruption-at-the-CCJ%3F-34007.html