CATEGORY-COMMENTARY
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By Mr. Lloyd Noel (Attorney-at-law)

During the past two weeks, as I looked and listened at the massacre and rhetorical shameful excuses - coming from Israel and Lebanon - as the former killed hundreds and devastated everything in sight in the latter - I could not resist making comparisons with our lifestyle in the Region.

While I shared, from a distance, the grief of the many thousands who were fleeing their homeland, maybe for the last time - I also felt that we in the
Caribbean are very, very, fortunate, to be living in peaceful surroundings by comparison - while at the same time not being subject to the extremities
and fanaticisms that obtain in the Middle East.

And then the continuing “Executive versus Judiciary” madness in Trinidad and Tobago, suddenly flared up on the Airwaves and in the press - involving
the Chief Justice and the DPP and Attorney General. And I somehow felt that we in these parts were not so safe, after all, nor so far away from the
destruction and condemnation of the solid and once dependable systems, and the respect we had for the Rule of Law and Civil liberties we inherited from
good old England.

Some may find the comparison extreme, or disproportionate, because the violence and barbarism and Military advantage have been the order of the
years between Jews and Palestinians/Arabs for decades. Although it has become much worse, and far more extreme since the demise of the Soviet Union
as a Super Power - and Israel now have the absolute services and protection of the only Super Power in these time, viz. the U.S.A.

But I will persist with the argument, that because we have been enjoying our freedoms and relative peace and comfortable existence in these parts for
so long - we have become so complacent, that we have lost the deep-rooted inner feelings, to recognize or envisage the lurking dangers hovering above
and all around us, that are seriously threatening those freedoms, and peace, and comfort we take for granted.

But as we are entering a new era of changes and systems, some forced upon us and others simply unavoidable in these times, we are obliged to wake up and come face to face with the reality that is already on our doorsteps.And that reality is most conspicuous in Trinidad and Tobago, and carries
with it an even more alarming and treacherous state of affairs - in the shape and mould of discrimination that is clearly grounded in racial
preferences.

It may be seen as pure coincidence, that the case for Constitutional redress - brought by the Maha Sabha religious Community of Trinidadian
Indians - was decided by the Privy Council in London and the decision handed down in early July. And that was happening at the same time, that the PNM Government of Hon. Patrick Manning was hell bent on ignoring an Order of the High Court in
Port-of-Spain, and threatening to arrest the Chief Justice, Hon. Satnarine Sharma, for an alleged Criminal Charge.

If explanation is needed, the PNM is a Negro majority Party and the Chief Justice is Indian. As is also well known, this is not the first attempt to get rid of Chief Justice Sharma, by Prime Minister Manning and his PNM Government.The Maha Sabha case started since 1999/2000 when the Indian body applied
for a Licence to operate a Radio Station in Trinidad and Tobago. The application was approved by the official responsible for so doing and then
passed to the Government Ministry for the Minister’s granting of the Licence, or the refusal thereof on reasonable grounds.

Soon after the application was approved and passed to the Minister, there was a political stalemate in Trinidad and Tobago when the PNM and the UNC of
Basdeo Pandy won 18 seats each in the House of Parliament. But the President of the day, Mr. ANR Robinson, appointed Prime Minister Manning to head the Government.

And once the new Minister of the PNM took charge, the approved application of the Maha Sabha went missing. During the next two years, between incoming
Public Servants and the Ministry there was all sorts of bungling in connection with the application, so no Licence was issued. During the same period, however, another Company headed by a PNM supporter and financier - having applied for a similar Licence many months after the Maha Sabha - by the name of Citadel Limited was awarded a Licence to broadcast.

By then the PNM was firmly in control, having won a small majority in a subsequent Election. The Maha Sabha took the matter to Court and a Judge ruled that the Religious body was discriminated against and was entitled to obtain a Licence. The Minister Appealed to the Court of Appeal in Trinidad and
Tobago, and the Court of Appeal upheld the first Judge’s finding - but sent back the matter for the Cabinet or Minister to reconsider the application.
Needless to say Cabinet refused the application so the Religious body petitioned the Privy Council in London. The Privy Council described the PNM behavior as “Arbitrary and Capricious,” and ordered the Attorney General to issue the Licence within Forty-eight (48) hours; and so justice was done after nearly Six years.


What is significant about the case, in my view, is not the victory as such - but the fact that although the High Court and Court of Appeal found the
Maha Sabha to have been discriminated against, those Courts stopped short of ordering the Government to award the Licence. And it was therefore left to
the Privy Council to push the Judicial reality to its obvious conclusion. And that is another of the reasons, many, like myself, hold unto the fears,
or misgivings, that we are not yet ready in these parts to take on the mantle of a Final Appellate Court for the Region.

Our Judges know the Law, they can see clearly the infringements and breaches by the powers-that-be, they also know the remedy - but they seem
always to stop short of applying the fullest solutions, and thereby leaving it to the outside Tribunal to say it and apply it, as they should have done. Maybe it is our small sizes, the closeness of the Society, the fear of being castigated by our ‘Tin-god’ politicians and their hangers-on; and by
extension the thought of not finding favour with those in control of powers, and what that could mean for their relatives and close friends - when the
latter need some favour from those in authority.

And even when the local Judiciary lay down the law as they know it is - but refrain from applying the remedy - they maybe taking comfort from the very
factual situation, that the Final Appellate Court in London is under no such fears or obligations, and therefore justice will eventually be seen to be
done.

But be all the foregoing as they may - since we must one day cut our legal navel strings from the Mother land, and stand on our own sovereign feet - we
have to find ways to get our immature Politicians to grow up and grow out of their petty and disgraceful attitude towards the judiciary - when the latter
determine matters that go against their arbitrary and capricious decisions. And just about the same time that the Privy Council was deciding that the
PNM Government had breached the Maha Sabha’s Constitutional rights to Freedom of expression, and had discriminated against the Indian Religious
body - the heat was rising to intolerable levels, in the said PNM’s open-ended policy to get rid of the Indian Chief Justice, Hon. Satnarine Sharma.

The Statements coming from the Police Commissioner, the DPP’s department, and the Attorney General - all point clearly to an orchestrated scheme to
achieve the political objective.

The Attorney was on the national airwaves making statements like.... “the Chief Justice is above the Law,” and “since the Police had a Criminal Charge
against the Chief Justice, he should resign or demit Office - instead he is still presiding over the Judiciary.” And with no semblance of shame, the
Minister for National Security was saying that there is no political interference in the “get rid of the Chief Justice saga - it is all grounded
in the rule of law.” But all of Trinidad and Tobago and the whole Region know - that the Prime Minister/ Patrick Manning; had summoned the Chief Justice to his Office, when the news or allegation from Magistrate Mc Nicols was first disclosed, and
the Chief Justice was given the option by Prime Minister Manning - “to demit office or resign, - or else face Criminal Charges.”So what is that - an invitation to a Sunday School class, by Ecumenical denominations wishing to unite the Religious races in multi-racial Trinidad and Tobago?

And when the Commissioner of Police, in gross defiance of a Judge of the High Court Order - that no charges can be laid against the Chief Justice,
until the High Court has determined the Judicial review matter brought by the Chief Justice - and in contempt of Court sent officers to arrest the
Chief Justice at his home. Was the Commissioner also rejecting the advice of the deputy DPP, all on his own deliberate judgment - without obvious instructions and directions from the Prime Minister and or the Attorney General? Come on guys - give us a break!!!

Whether, or not, the Chief Justice did approach the DPP and the Attorney General, in the Dr. Nayaransingh Murder case, as was alleged by the Prime Minister when he advised the President to commence impeachment proceedings; or the Chief Justice did, or did not speak with Magistrate Mc Nicols about the Basdeo Panday case, for breach of the Integrity Act that he has now been convicted for. The behaviour of the political arm under the Trinidad and Tobago Constitution leaves a whole lot to be desired; it smells of deep-seated
fermenting political impropriety, that is loaded with the evils of discrimination.

But for the rest of the CSM(E) Region, and in particular the CCJ aspect as it applies to the Final Appellate Jurisdiction of that Court - the
happenings in Trinidad and Tobago, and the treatment of the Judiciary, and especially the Chief Justice thereof, should give us all very serious legal
food for thought.

Trinidad and Tobago houses the headquarters of the CCJ; Trinidad and Tobago is the biggest provider of funding for the Court; and the President of the
Court, under the Treaty, can only be appointed by the Prime Ministers of the CSME States. In all the prevailing circumstances, and the disturbing
happenings, in my view, our far less Independent mini-States and their people who can see the writing on the wall - they should be thinking deeply
and reconsidering their options about the CCJ, because the criticism, that we are not yet ready for the final plunge into a local Court of last resort - embodies all the above and much more.

When you know what you have, you can see the benefits from what you have, and when you feel secure and appreciate what you have; while you cannot tell in advance, what you will be getting to replace what you have - but you can see disturbing signs, and hear alarming sounds coming from the very seat of control of the replacement structure - it must be more prudent to err on the side of caution, and rely on the old adage, that “a bird in hand, is far more valuable than dozens in the bush.”

And while the Trinidad and Tobago happenings are now very topical, and more than likely - because the Regime in control sees itself as entrenched in
power for some time to come, on account of the chaotic state of the opposition’s own power struggles - it feels it is untouchable. We must remember that the bad treatment of the Judiciary is not confined to Trinidad and Tobago; and in our backyard in Grenada, for example, the situation is just as bad.

So that when the Cabinet’s Legal Advisor, and the Government’s in-house Legal Supremo, takes a Judge to Court - on behalf of himself and the
Government he advises - for Bias against them; and the same Legal Advisor openly tells the Media, that another Judge’s decision against him was also
biased; and in the same Press Conference, he tells the Region that the people of CARICOM would be doomed if their Governments (including Grenada)
abolish the Privy Council and opt for the CCJ as the Final Court of Appeal; and that Legal Advisor is still in his highly paid position of Legal authority - the emerging picture must be very clear.

And so it is against that daunting and un-inspiring background - that I pose the question at the top of this article to Trinidad and Tobago, even though I do not expect an answer. But by the logical inference, and the obvious extension provided by the Revised Treaty of the CSME - which brings into play the CCJ and all that envisage - the rest of the CARICOM Region and its people, also have to
answer the question before moving any further. Time is not on our side - and today is already very late.