The battle continues for lawyers, Cara Shillingford and Anthony Astaphan SC, when they square off at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Thursday, December 10, 2020, to argue the 2014 Treating Election case.
Mervin John Baptiste, Antoine Defoe, and Edincot St. Valle filed complaints against all 15 elected candidates of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) after the 2014 general election claiming they were involved in “treating” leading up to the election; which the DLP won 15-6 against the United Workers Party (UWP).
The complainants cited two concerts put on by the DLP, featuring international acts, Donnie McClurkin and Morgan Heritage, as acts of treating meant to corruptly influence the outcome of the election.
However, High Court judge Bernie Stephenson ruled that the magistrate did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter but in a 2-1 majority decision, the ECSC dismissed the high court’s decision and remitted the matter back to the high court saying “it had jurisdiction to hear the matter.”
Anthony Astaphan SC the lawyer representing the DLP candidates applied for permission from the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) in the application for leave to appeal the decision on the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s court to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
Both sides are expected to put forward several arguments before the CCJ to try to convince them in a case that has far-reaching implications for the Skerrit-led DLP administration should the CCJ uphold the decision of the ECSC.
Cara Shillingford is representing Mervin Jno Baptiste et al in the matter.
CCJ is known the rule in favor of sitting governments. I wish Cara alllll the best but i know where CCJ will rule. Best they pass their ruling all now before the case is even held to not waste people time. I will be extremely surprised if proven otherwise. God is not a police.
lol – If Trump manage to overturn the US Election only then I will believe that they will overturn the Election in Dominica and grant Lennox he’s wish. What a waste of tax payers money. Lennox is no different from Donald Trump – hungry for power at any cost….
@Jonathan Y St. Jean
Your comment speaks truth to power. It’s worthy of commendation.
There is something fundamentally wrong with our regional justice system. Our Justice System, in my honest opinion, for whatever reasons, favors the incumbent political parties in government. No wonder most people across the Caribbean hold our courts in such low esteem.
The mere fact that only four (4) of the fifteen (15) members of CARICOM use the CCJ as their final court of appeal conveys an unmistakable message. WE DON’T TRUST YOU!
I just don’t get it!! 2014???? Almost SEVEN YEARS??? How is this possible in a judicial system that has sworn to have matters dealing with elections RESOLVED in NINETY DAYS??!!😬👹😤😱🤔🙄
Isn’t this same system that says:”justice delayed is justice denied”??!!
HOTEP!
The whole CCJ System is corrupt and deliberately flawed. Any blind man can see that. Politicians can walk after stealing and committing crimes against humanity in broad daylight and the CCJ System will praise them for being diligent. Dcans, not the CCJ System are the ones to make this right. I wish one day we will go back to the Privvy Counsel as our final court.
What a waste of public funds and time.
Public money is government, money therefore tax payers’s money Wallace. So I must interpret your remarks as meaning government is wasting money. Carla Shillingford’s fees are not covered by government, unlike those of Tony Astaphan. Those spurious lawsuits by that gentleman have been a gravy train for him for years. I just wonder what his declaration for the IPO will be this time.
God’s blessing for a successful outcome. We have full confidence in your ability Cara. Remember, it too a single shot from David to bring down Goliah.
I honestly and sincerely wish miss Shillingford the very best and for a favorable outcome in this matter. May The Almighty God be with you and may the spirits of confusion be binded and rebuked against you. Good Luck. We all know and have faith in you that you can DO IT.
Hear, hear! The time has surely come for this evil party and it’s leader to be defeated…
adil, You can pray all you want Tony, will be teaching Cara a good lesson she and those clowns and idiotic circus party is not ready yet!!!
Red noses clowns does have.
Not only is the Labor party on trial but the CCJ and the judiciary in the Caribbean. They seem to duck out of cases involving the ruling regimes in the region, because their bread and butter, plus their tenure as judges depends on doing the bidding of their pay Masters. Since they are supposed to do their jobs without fear or favor, there is enough evidence for them to right the wrongs which our new Masters of corruption and deceipt have unleashed on the region. When Skerritt and Saint Jean were brought before the court as agents of foreign countries who were disqualified from holding office, the court refused to use it’s powers to demand that the nationality of the defendants be established. No opposition parties cannot establish the citizenship of an individual, but the court could, and didn’t. Since then the cancer of political corruption has metastasized in Dominica. Let’s see if the judiciary will finally save democracy.
How is the case before the CCJ the final battle, DNO? The CCJ is being asked whether the Magistrate Court has jurisdiction. Whatever the decision, the case will be heard by a lower court.
The judges and courts in the Caribbean seem almost reluctant to overturn an election even when there is compelling evidence of illegality.
The ruling regime in Dominica along with their senior potty-mouth counsel, consistently tries to avoid these election cases from going before a judge for a determination.
Another sore point is the eternity these cases take to get a hearing and a final judgment. Imagine, over six years have elapsed since these cases had their genesis in the legal system. Justice delayed is injustice.
Best of luck Cara. You will certainly need it.
Lord, please deliver Dominica from the hand of the Evil ones, like Roosevelt Skerrit, As.tafan and the corrupt DLP that I voted for in 2009. Lord you delivered America from Trump; will you not deliver our country from the evil, lying and corrupt Skerrit? Lord please hear my lil prayer
I have lots of confidence in Cara Shillingford and Dominica really needs the help of the CCJ to deliver Dominica from the hand of evil Skerrit and Tony. However, I am not very hopeful because CCJ is a boyz club and it’s hard to see them rule against a very loyal teammate. In fact should the CCJ rule against Skerrit and Tony, I would take as confirmation that the world will end before 2025.