Senior Counsel, Anthony Astaphan, is expressing “confidence” and optimism after his delivery before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in the matter dealing with the election of former President, Eluid Williams.
In his presentation to the court Monday, Astaphan contended that a number of serious errors were made by the trial judge on the Constitution in his consideration on the election of the president.
He told the court that the challenge of the leader of the opposition became “fatal” once section 22 (5) of the constitution was invoked and the certificate of the Speaker was issued.
“Parliament cannot exist without a President and the government also cannot exist without a President who is Head of State…the election of a President is clearly a political matter and the jurisdiction of this court is only to inquire on the qualification of the President,” Astaphan pointed out to the ECSE justices.
“I think that it went very well and am also very happy that members of the media were there to listen and hear the exchange of questions between the Judge and lawyer for representing the Leader of the Opposition.” Astaphan told reporters afterwards.
“Judgment has been reserved and we are confident. Our case has always been that once the certificate has been issued, the law of the Commonwealth is that, that puts an end of the matter. And there is a good public policy position for is;- to protect the integrity and the office and to ensure responsible behaviour on the part of all parties to expedient the matter as quickly as they can,” he said.
He described as ‘very significant,’ a question from Justice of Appeal Mitchel to Gildon Richards, lawyer for the leader of the opposition which stated, “are you seriously saying that if a President is not well…or for whatever reason wants to resign and he is asking the Prime Minister to initiate the process whether you are calling that a tainted process.”
“But I think the lessons out of that is if you are going to be confronted by the certificate of the Speaker then you have to ensure that you act promptly and ensure that certain things are done but the truth is I don’t’ know what the Judges are going to say so we now have to wait,” Astaphan remarked.
In response, Gildon Richards maintained that “the issue was never the validity of the qualifications of the President…there were clear breaches of the Constitution by the Speaker, the certificate came from behind and is tainted.”
Richards was subjected to a barrage of questions from all three Judges and he was told that “even if there were or may have been irregularities, whether you like it or not the certificate of the Speaker is there as per section 22 (5) and this is telling.”
He said he now awaits the court’s decision.
“You know that I never pre-empt the decision of any court; I can only hope that I gave a good account of myself and convince the court to do the right thing. And I hope that the right thing is what I presented to them. Difficulty is a relative term I did not see the difficulty that someone else might have seen. I don’t know how the court will see it, its now a matter of wait and see,” he told reporters.
why doesn’t the UWPWEE take the new president to court ?
they so talking about irregularities and constitutionalities;;;;I guess there money is for the privy council case which their novice is involved in with pinnard byrne …I see….allu workers people too sor sort!
If You are so smart You should know You cannot take a President to court
Tony is always right, even when he is wrong. That has been ever so since he was a child.
and he is also right wen he is wrong and tony is always wrong when he is right
Tony Astaphans must be a very tired man…having spent the last 14 years defending the
wrong doings and illegal acts of the PM….What a life…..All this will come to past soon Tony and finally….. you will be able to retire a rich man…..
And “There shall be an Attorney General who shall be the PRINCIPAL LEGAL ADVISER” to the Government. Chapter IV 71(1). The Irony of this constitutional battle!!
I wish DNO would discontinue that blog aspect on DNO .All this BASHING about Dominica is sickening.
We just celebrate National Day when everyone showed love for country and culture. Now because of POLITICS. It is one Dominica it is not Skerrit
or Linton Dominica. We need to stop bashing this country as if it is the Worse in the World. Tone’
The ppl need to be heard. Your comment sounds tyrannical and dictatorial just like your leader. I am sure he wishes the same thing but even if you hide the truth, you still cant change it!
@ Grand Bay Girl, although you using DNO to push your agenda, but you want DNO to close because others are getting an opportunity to expose lies, dishonesty, corruption, and the likes there of? Boy the day DNO shuts Down Dominica will shutdown too.
Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are enshrined in our constitution. When you have a splinter in your bodo you will keep complaining till it is removed.
We need to Bash all Politicians to keep them in line.That has nothing to do with our Nationalistic feelings!When You have runaway Politicians that talk about getting rid of the Opposition in a Democracy they need a good Bashing. The Opposition must also be respected and they must exist You cannot get rid of them!
Jah will not punish his children forever. Something will give way soon. Tony cannot enjoy this power forever.
How much has Tony been paid for running his mouth?
Public Accounts Committee please provide this info!
That’s exactly what I was saying. Jah would never punish his children with Linton and the uwp.
Tony and Tony alone can be optimistic because regardless of the outcome Tony and the rest of the big boys will continue to profit while Dominica continues to plunge in utter rubbish, thanks Skerrit. Tony knows very well that it is not a battle of the constitution of Dominica but rather one for financial gain. So come on Skerrit! Keep doing everything that’s contrary to the constitution because in so doing, you supplying for the boys and when you will finish with Dominica you will be able to run to either France, the country of your choice, Canada the home of wifie, or the USA since you secured baby’s birth place. Too bad for the rest of us and those blind Skerittites that will be stock in the mess you will have left us with.
When last were you in Dominica to say that ‘”Dominica in plunging in utter rubbish”
This is not true! we do have problems like every other country. but we are not “Plunging in utter rubbish” I tend to respect people’s opinion, but this one is unacceptable.smh
Waw Grandbay girl! Can you prove me wrong? Look at the mess with the presidency. Is that hole thing not a mess? What about the Christmas day fire bombing that is still at large? Is that not utter rubbish? What about the rule of law called the constitution. Is that not utter rubbish? What about leaders that came in power without a car and within their first term became millionaire while nationals keep saying we have problems like every other country? Is that not utter rubbish? What about the bin bobol? What about the ownership of the Villas? What about????????????????????????? Do you really want me to add more? Sorry for offending you but truth does offend.
Santa Claus,
There is no mess with the presidency. The only mess there is, is the one the uwp trying to create.
What about the christmas day fire bombing? It is still being investigated. It is not the only unsolved crime in the history of Dominica. The government is doing the best they can.
There has been no violation of the constitution so far. The uwp have taken the DLP to court several times with claims of breach of constitution. All in vain. The only ones playing games with the constitution are uwp members and followers.
If what you are saying about the ministers salaries are true then you are just jealous. Are their monies not accounted for?
Bin bobol is utter rubbish because as far as I know every government pay much more than the average citizen for everything.
The villas? Another case the uwp lost in court. No proof. Just hearsay.
It seem to me that the uwp mantra is to deceive and cause confusion in an attempt to gain political power, even if they have to drag the country down in the mud. Tell me how do you people have the guts to look Dominicans in the face and talk about transparency, good governance and love of country?
An idiot masquerading as smart.
When are you guys going to stop destroying your country because of politics.These things you are talking about is garbage.
You sound like are parrot.
well that’s DA for u..
a place where the citizens and dumb, easily to be fooled by a wicked and evil DLP..and it’s cronies..
only steady prayer and fasting with a few can clean up the evil spell that looms over dominica..sorry coast to coast and Q won’t cut the deal..
you must defeat evil to have a re-birth in Dominica as the island is not on simple footings.
God is not deceived. He cannot be deceived. In order to do this and achieve it, hearts and minds must be holy and pure including the lifestyle and what comes out of the mouths.
As if it have more important things in Dominica that need attention like poverty and education and other economic hardships than election of a former president. All president doing is show up to functions and sit at the front. Lets make the real issues in Dominica a priority please. If the opposition members themselves were feeling the pinch of the hard times their priorities would be different.
and a salary bigger than that of Obama, $28,000.00 is true? Can the Director of Audit confirm?
Stop ur lies OBAMA earns USD$33,333.00 MONTHLY I DONT THINK THAT CAN COMPARE TO ecd$
Blaze, you are forgetting that he can commit crimes with impunity as the post of President enjoys immunity from prosecution (read the Constitution)..This is why Skerrit wants that position for himself down the road. you see. Very Worrying.
Who said he wanted it? Did he inform you about that? Being a PM why should he want to be President at the end of his tenure?
ROSESU VALLEY can you please explain to us whst Tony meant in the ststement ” but I think the lesson is if you sre going to be confronted by the certificate of the soeaker……….” who is he offering this advise? I am honedtly confused.
As citizens I am asking how much is it costing us to pay Tony to trample the constitution.
Not your damn business!
althou the rulling is not out yet tony knows the rulling
If he is a good Lawyer he should have a fair idea otherwise he is not worth his fees.
I said it before and will say it again that the opposition will never get justice on behalf of the people of this country why because the justice system is bought listen clearly to tony,s comments after the two cases by the ccj one with the pm citizenship and now with the president matter so that sums it all
Sounds like there is a loophole in the process which should be fixed by parliament
In that case what was the point of going to court?
Always jobs for the boys. In case we didn’t understand why Tony’s ferocious rhetoric on the Animal Show has become his passion, we now know. The Attorney General has many lawyers in his office, but Government legal jobs are always given to outside sources.
This is nonsense. It’s either you are right or you are wrong. This is what happens when you have an uneducated person in the name of Lennox interpreting the law for the UWP. Another lose for the UWP. Will they ever learn? Are they going to blame the system for every bad case that they lose? Come on….
This is what i do not understand…perhaps DNO can shed some light on this.
Is Tony an AG counsel or a private counsel? And if so…why is he representing the government on matters of Constitutional Interest?
I thought the job of the AG counsel was to represent the government?
At least, in my 6 yrs suing the govt, we have never had a private bar counsel represent the govermet. It has always been counsel who works on behlaf of the AG.
This is what good governance is about. Get the best man for the job.
The uneducated lawyers among us, particularly on the talkshows will continue to develop partisan legal opinions/authorities (mostly Astaphans and Skerrit buy the judiciary)even when the best legally trained, duly certified legal practitioers have to do further research. God help us.
Tony are you and these judges serious? So even if the speaker issues a false certificate, that certificate onece issued is valid. The records of the house states that the president was elected under a doctrine of necessity but the certificate states that he was elected in accordance with s.19(1) of the constitution, so this is clearly an invalid certificate.
SO Papa Dom… was that brought up in court?
it seems from the question / statement posed by the judge to opposing counsel – ” “even if there were or may have been irregularities, whether you like it or not the certificate of the Speaker is there as per section 22 (5) and this is telling”
there is no proof that there were irregularities.
The learned judge is saying that even in the event that there was – the certificate of the Speaker seems to prove something much more vital..
I guess that the certificate being “false” was not proven yet… judement has been reserved by the judges who had the facts…let’s just see
We coming and remove all that corruption in DCA’s government soon. We working on our Masters Now. SMH
What masters u talking about nah?u doh hear u don’t need any degree to be PM why waste your time is in cabinet u want to put your masters degree when u get it.