By Courtenay Barnett

Is Mr. Robert Schuster sitting as a lawfully appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands?
Turks and Caicos Sun Headlines 5 months ago
The above-captioned question is posed in that signatures continue to be raised after 4 months since the 30th January, 2015 Petition for the removal as a Judge of Mr. Robert Shuster was first delivered to the Governor. The Petitioners are seeking lawfully required answers to the issues and questions raised in the Petition.It is in the sense that the letter of the law and the spirit of the Constitution and the law have to upheld by His Excellency, the Governor and the Judicial Services Commission, when making such an important appointment as that of Judge of the Supreme Court, that the concerns following are expressed.
Was the appointment lawful?
1.Was the Governor not aware of the report published in the highly reputable English newspaper, the ‘Independent’ which read as follows:-
“John Cauchi, an Australian citizen who was Tonga’s attorney general until his resignation in April over government interference, said: “The government is attempting to go down the Fiji route. But while I am sitting in this country it is better for me not to say anything. When I am safely back in a country that respects the rule of law I will feel free to say something more about this.He condemned the government’s “corrupt” decision to abolish the Judicial Services Commission: “This means the government’s ministers can pick judges rather than having them independently selected.” He added that Mr Shuster’s possible appointment was “extremely serious. No one knows what is going to happen.”
So, since an appointment was made as there reported to be “corrupt” in the legal mind of Tonga’s Attorney General, then would the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands not have extremely special reason to ensure that the appointment, if an appointment were to be made of Mr. Robert Schuster to the Turks and Caicos Islands Supreme Court, would be in full compliance with the Constitution and the law? Failing such strict compliance, given Mr. Schuster’s history, then the risk would be run of the appointment being accused and questioned as it was in Tonga – would it not?
2.Was the Governor not aware of the openly expressed opposition to Mr. Schuster’s appointment as stated in the Turks and Caicos Islands media in January, 2015, which had to have given good cause for the Governor carefully to examine the history of Mr. Schuster before signing an instrument of appointment?
3.Was the Governor not aware of the 30th January, 2015 Petition providing full details why a significant number of signatories were not content that Mr. Schuster was a suitable person for the position of Judge of the Supreme Court? Even if the media reports had missed the attention of the Governor, it could not be contended that the Petition addressed directly to the Governor at the end of January, 2015 could have missed his attention with the facts presented.
4.Why, a mere 3 weeks after the Petition was presented did the Governor not reply to the Petitioners before signing an instrument of appointment on the 27th February, 2015 so as to satisfy in his own mind ? And to the satisfaction of the Petitioners in accordance with the Constitutional requirement at section 85(7) (a) either to establish a Tribunal to investigate the matter, or reject the call for an investigation and provide good reasons why in the face of the Petition’s clearly stated facts di the Governor still consider that of all the Judges available in the Caribbean and throughout the British Commonwealth he saw Mr. Schuster as the best candidate for the Turks and Caicos Islands, given Mr. Schuster’s history and background of demotion from the High Court in Tonga to being a Magistrate in Monserrat ?
5.Why after over 4 months and now 4 sets of signatures delivered to the Governor has he not responded to the Petition to satisfy the significant number of signatories as to why he, the Governor considers Mr. Schuster a suitable person for the position ?
6.Why in accordance with section 19(2) of the Constitution and after over 4 months hasn’t the Judicial Services Commission complied with the obligation imposed upon it to provide written reasons why it considered Mr. Schuster a suitable person to be the Turks and Caicos Island’s Supreme Court Judge?
7. Why was the Governor’s appointment of the 27th February, 2015 not addressed in a manner which complied with the section 26(1) legal obligation under the Interpretation Ordinance to publish in the Gazette the appointment so that it would take legal effect?
8.Why have all other Judges and Magistrates appointment been published in the Gazette so as to confer legal authority upon the appointment as Judge or Magistrate in the Turks and Caicos Islands but Mr. Schuster is the only appointment not Gazetted in the lawfully required manner?
9.Why would the Governor, after being made aware of the failure to publish in the Gazette not promptly, in accordance with the Governor’s administrative duties, have not pointed out the fact to Mr. Schuster so that further sitting without lawful appointment would not take place?
10.Why would the Governor still, after knowing of all the difficulties with the appointment, still proceed along the path which runs the risk of violating the legal ‘Rule against Retrospectivity’ thus leaving open the door to appeals and the questioning of whether or not the decisions and judgements given for over 3 months can in point of law be considered decisions and judgments made by a lawfully appointed Judge?
There are substantial revenue implications if the matter is not fully, lawfully and in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and law urgently addressed, because the prospect of re-trials and appeals will in respect of Judgments given by Mr. Schuster will only continue to mount with adverse impact on the public purse and finances of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
If these issues as listed are considered trite or of no significant importance, it would be very helpful to have the Governor’s reply to the Petitioners expressed representations as made since 30th January, 2015, to hear why so.
The Lucayan International Bugle
June 3 ·
STONEWALLING IS ENDEMIC IN THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS!
Whether it be the Governor of the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Turks & Caicos Bar Association, the Financial Services Commission, corrupt banks and banking officials or billionaires and their UK lawyers, all are well versed in the art of ‘stonewalling’! By ignoring accusations and allegations, the opinions of local residents, or local and even the international media, they believe the problems will eventually go away, forgotten eventually as life moves on and other issues replace the old.
You only have to examine the abysmal record of the police in their lacklustre and often apparent lack of resolve, intentional or otherwise, in feeble attempts to solve any of the major murders for more than a decade to appreciate the above paragraph is true. They do not care that a constable from St. Vincent was shot in an armed robbery attempt many years ago! There have been many other unsolved murders in ensuing years but the police only focus on the more recent to placate us all, hoping to demonstrate they are actually doing something. We all know they are not, that they are as useless and as corrupt as many of the lawyers on the island, the bankers, the FSC and the FCO! We seem to be at the mercy of all these people who behind the scenes dispense their own version of the law at the expense of mere mortals like the rest of us!
The sole purpose of the Lucayan Bugle is to remain a thorn in the side of the corrupt and to record and remind all citizens and residents of the Turks & Caicos Islands that the real power remains in the hands of the same old ‘gang’!
The thorn needs to fester in order to require a major operation. We forget the past at our own peril and so we must all stand shoulder to shoulder to put right the wrongs of the past! And how can we do that when we are forced fed judges like Judge Schuster. He only exacerbates the bigger problems! If the attorneys feel so strongly about his appointment, perhaps they should consider boycotting his court!
Editors
LUCAYAN BUGLE
Dear Editor,
This letter serves Notice on the Governor and those who ought to know better. We wonder if the Governor is aware that the improper appointment of judge Schuster could lead to an appeal that will effectively have the cases of those he is trying thrown out. Is this a plan or conspiracy to enable certain Defendants to be released should they be convicted? Press on with a faulty Judicial Appointment and the seeds are there to prompt a successful appeal.
We know that the Governor is aware.
I am here writing to indicate the total absence of logic applied in the attempted appointment of Mr. Robert Schuster to be a Judge of the Supreme Court :-
On the basis of the chronology of a Petition being delivered; the Governor ignoring the Petition; the Governor rushing to sign an appointment instrument without attending to what the Constitution required His Excellency to do; not publishing the intended appointment in the Gazette but having Mr. Shuster sit to hear cases before he was lawfully installed all amounts to a cart before the horse situation. Is there not a striking similarity with the logic that operated in the book, ‘Alice in Wonderland’?
Based on the facts long since known, as to the judicial history of Mr. Robert Schuster, the manner in which he was first appointed in Tonga, and now the recent history of his non-appointment in the Turks and Caicos Islands, so as to be in accordance with the laws and Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands, permits everyone rationally, reasonably, lawfully and Constitutionally to proceed hereafter to conclude that Mr. Shuster was the Governor’s choice regardless of whatever the people of the Turks and Caicos in significant numbers were saying. To hell with you all is what the Governor’s conduct has clearly demonstrated. He will do precisely as he please, regardless of the law, because he has the power. But, Mr. Schuster for months has not lawfully been appointed to be a Judge in the Turks and Caicos Islands, has he?
If Governor is not in agreement with what I have clearly stated in a reasoned manner, then with written the Governor is free to reply to the observations made.
We can’t all be good at what we do. However – in positons of importance that impact communities, whole societies, countries and the world in a broader sense, the holders of high office, such as Judges and Governors need to demonstrate on an objective basis that they are at the very least competent. In a certain way of thinking about logic, that is why ss. 19(2) and 85(7) (a) of the Constitution require that holders of high office in the Turks and Caicos Islands demonstrate their suitability for positions by way of supporting and defending the decisions made in high office, to appoint other persons to high office – by way of written reasons which confirm both the application of logic and demonstration therefrom a measure of demonstrated transparency reasoned out with integrity.
Given the facts of this issue, I have to say to the Governor that I had read, as a child, the children’s classic, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll, and the events I have referenced in this letter, in logical sequence, bring to mind events in that book, for the following reasons, and I quote:-
“The King
‘No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Sentence first — verdict afterwards.’ ”
And:-
“Alice
‘Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The idea of having the sentence first!’ ”
And:-
“Doorknob
Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.”
And:-
“The King
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
Since events in the Schuster appointment issue proceeded in reverse, I shall in accordance with the sequence of quotations above, proceed from bottom to top. If one had begun at the beginning, that would have been the Petitioners’ 30th January, 2015 Petition. If one had read those directions, then one would have gone directly to the issue of the unsuitability of Mr. Robert Schuster for the position, for quite similar reasons that no less an august human rights body than Amnesty International had long since recognised. If one had at all seriously considered and addressed the issues in the sequence that the Constitution had required, then the entire Petition in its detailed factual submissions would not have been considered to be ‘stuff and nonsense’. And finally, we do appear to have arrived at a “‘Sentence first’ – verdict afterwards’ ” situation, for reason that the appointment was made before the Petition’s requirements under the law and Constitution were complied with and the Constitution’s provisions were properly addressed – and further – the instrument of appointment did not direct itself to the next lawful step of being Gazetted, but instead leap-frogged to the sitting of a person on the Bench as a Judge without lawful effect. In this way, I see quite striking similarities with the plot and processes which operated in ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
The justice system in the Turks and Caicos Islands is in a pitiful condition as we can now all see.
Sincerely,
IW

Date: Fri, 22 May 2015 09:58:18 -0500

See also iNews Cayman story published May 20 2015 “TCI legal profession organise petition against appointment of judge” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/tci-legal-profession-organise-petition-against-appointment-of-judge/