CATEGORY:COMMENTARY
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By Lloyd Noel (Attorney-at-law)



“And as for us in the Spice Isles …someone or some thing has to give way, in this endless battle between those in Authority and the Judiciary.”


Under our adopted democratic system of Government - grounded in our Parliamentary system of passing Laws, for the peace, order, and stability of
our Society - we have also taken on board, a written Constitution which is said to be the Supreme Law of our Tri-Island State (Sec. 106). And by virtue of our Constitution, as the Supreme Law, the System of our Parliamentary democracy is supposed to operate under three separate headings - which are usually described or referred to as the Three Pillars of the Constitution, namely, “The Executive,” “The Legislature” and “The Judiciary.”

The Executive comprises Cabinet, i.e. The Government, and the Governor General representing the Queen; The Legislature comprises the Lower House of Parliament of Elected Members, and the Upper House of Appointed Senators; and The Judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and all Lower Courts,
Tribunals, or Commissions of Inquiry, appointed for Specific purposes by the Governor General.

The underlying and over-riding principle, embedded in the doctrine of the Separation of Powers as provided for in our Constitution, is that each area
of operation, or “Pillar,” has its distinct role to play so as to enable the Parliamentary democracy to function as it was intended so to do.

While the Three Pillars of the Constitution are separate and independent of each other - to ensure that the System of Parliamentary democracy functions
as intended - the Judiciary is empowered by the Constitution to hear and determine any question, relating to any allegation by any person, that some
provision of the said Constitution has been contravened.

The Jurisdiction for such hearing is assigned to the High Court, and from there it can go to the Court of Appeal, and then to the Privy Council, which
is our Final Court of Appeal - until and if the CCJ eventually replaces it.In essence, therefore, the Cabinet and Governor General form the Authority
responsible for implementing the Laws and the administration of the Government of the day.

Parliament is the place, or the arm of Government, where proposed Laws and Statutes are debated, voted upon in both Houses, and when approved - or the
“Ayes have it” - these are sent to the Governor General for his Assent, and subsequent publication in the Government Gazette as the Law of the Land that bind us all.

It is at that stage, however, - when a Law or Statute has been Assented to and then Gazetted - that anyone, or group, or organization, who feels that (he/she/they) their rights have been contravened or denied in anyway, can apply to the High Court for redress.

From the foregoing, it is quite obvious that the Judiciary is the holder of a very important and critical responsibility, in any Parliamentary
Democratic Society where the Rule of Law is accepted and respected.And precisely because of its importance - to the peace, order, and good
governance of any democratic Society - that the Judiciary must be impartial, independent, and above reproach and interference by interested parties.
The System of Appeals provide the avenue for redress - when any party feels hard done by, or aggrieved, by the decision of the High Court, up to the
Final Court of Appeal.

I have gone through the above, as the basis for saying - without fear or favour - that the situation in Grenada today, vis-ŕ-vis the Judiciary, is on
a collision course with chaos, confusion, and anarchy. And unless some action, or mediation, or policy change - is brought to bear with the utmost
urgency, we are in for some troubled times in the months and years ahead.It has now been confirmed, that Mr. Justice Davidson Baptiste is leaving
the State, and will be replaced by a lady Judge from Dominica, by the 11th October.

As readers should recall, he was the Judge who handed down the decision in the Hugh Wildman Judicial Review case - in which he ruled that Wildman was not entitled to the remedy he was seeking in his quest to be the Attorney General of Grenada.

The day after the decision, Wildman held a Press Conference and accused the Judge of all sorts of wrongdoing, including bias against him - and by
extension the Government of Grenada. Wildman has Appealed, as is his right so to do, and the proper and ethical way of dealing with any decision one disagrees with.The Government of Grenada has never chided Wildman for his deplorable outbursts - at least not publicly.

Then sometime later, when Wildman attempted to appear before the said Judge in another matter - the Judge promptly told him he was not hearing him in
any matter, and he reclused himself and left the Court. We heard on the Legal/Political grapevine, that the Prime Minister made some protest at the OECS Heads of Government meeting in St. Kitts in June/July - complaining about the Judges in Grenada and their camaraderie with the Local Lawyers, and thereby disrupting the course of Justice for the
public at large. As a consequence of that complaint, the Atg. Chief Justice visited Grenada and met with the Prime Minister in July.

No report was forthcoming about that visit - but the end result is that Justice Baptiste is on his way out - after not even a year in Grenada.After the decision by Justice Benjamin, in the Peter David Citizenship matter, Wildman held another Press Conference on the matter - and he ranted and raved about the Judgment, and therein likened the Judge to those who always giving biased and prejudicial decisions against the Government.Wildman has also filed an Appeal against that decision - so can we soon expect Justice Benjamin to be on his way?

And instead of the Government, through the Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs, Elvin Nimrod, hauling Wildman over the coals and
seriously reprimanding him - the Attorney General more or less uttered the same scandalous remarks as his Advisor on the matter. What a disgraceful and shameless state of affairs, our once well respected System of Law and order and justice have descended to?

This also calls into question the role of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLCS), in the manner and practice of dealing with complaints
brought by Government against Judges.

On the wider political front, pertaining to the CSME and CCJ, and the stalemate now prevailing up and down the CARICOM Region, as to the way ahead
for those Institutions - the debate and concerns also need to be addressed at that level, in the light of happenings in Trinidad and Tobago and again
in Grenada.

In our own interest in these Spice Isles - our people must be concerned about the impact the treatment of our Judges is having on the general
behavior of our less developed youngsters in the Society. If the highest authority, viz. The Government of the day through its Legal Officers - can treat and lambaste members of the Judiciary in that manner and get away with it - to the extent of having them transferred at its whim and fancy; then
the brash youngsters may well feel why the hell should they obey the same Authority and its rules and regulations. And who can blame them for such feelings - on the basis of the age-old saying, that if the Priest can play Mass why can’t we?

In fact, the World is witnessing that brand of logic, making travel and ordinary daily pass times things of great fear and foreboding all over the
Global Village - in the form of the Universal disease or plague called “Terrorism,” but the same was crated by those in higher Authority, who wield
tremendous power and the weapons of mass destruction to go with it.

The Power Barons throw their weight around and openly oppress, terrorize, and devastate the homes and utilities of endless thousands of the
under-privileged - and kill thousands of innocent human beings in the process.

The brave few among the oppressed, who cannot openly come up against the might of the Invaders - but who are conscientious enough to understand the
injustices, and the advantages being meted out to their brothers and sisters and their way of life - they respond and react by going underground, as it
were, and taking their revenge against corresponding innocent folks in Hotels, Trains, Buses, Airplanes, Offices, wherever they see the opportunity
in the lands of the Power Barons and or their friends.

If those who wield power and higher authority, and are duty bound to set standards and good examples for those they are in control of to follow - go
out of their way to do the opposite, and behave like reckless dictators, simply because they control the reins of power and have authority over their
fellow men/women - they are in essence fertilizing and propagating the evils of rebellion and violent reprisals, that will one day destroy the very power
bases they control and the Society as a whole.

The situation Worldwide is frightening and desperate, and a peaceful solution must be found - to bring sanity and responsible co-existence, among
peoples of the various races, cultures and religions.

And here in the Caribbean, we are not outside the range of feeling the heat, or suffering the consequences of the atrocities taking place in the
Middle East and Iraq.

With CWC 2007 drawing closer and closer with each passing month - the pressure and vigilance surrounding Security in the Region need to be
heightened in all areas, right up until the last ball is bowled and the last Airline of visitors take off for wherever.

And as for us in the Spice Isles, on top of our daily escalating Economic and Social problems, someone or some thing has to give way, in this endless battle between those in Authority and the Judiciary.

Getting Judges transferred every Monday morning, or refusing to support a deserving candidate for promotion up the Judicial ladder - in the hope of
getting someone who will tolerate your wrong-doing - is not the answer. Because the right alone will always be right - and the wrongdoers and their
wrong doing will always be wrong.