Minister of Justice Herbert Volney was allowed to launch an attack on the Chief Justice because the Speaker of the House of Representatives allowed him to.
Theodore Guerra, SC, said that to the T&T Guardian yesterday, adding that House Speaker, Wade Mark, was partly to blame for allowing those comments. "The Speaker has to share part of the blame because the Speaker ought to maintain order in the House and he did not do so when he allowed the minister to go outside the Standing Orders," Guerra said in an interview. He added: "The Speaker ought to have stopped Volney when he was making his statement." Last Thursday, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, at the end of his address at the opening of the 2010/2011 law term, had thanked Volney for his contribution to the Judiciary, when Volney launched an attack on the Chief Justice.
It was only minutes later that Volney, during his contribution to the 2010/2011 budget presentation on live national television, accused Archie of entering a "sweetheart deal" with former Attorney General John Jeremie. Guerra said the comments went against the Standing Orders and bore no relevance to the budget debate. He said contempt proceedings ought to be brought against the minister for the "unwarranted" statements. He noted that if Volney had followed the Standing Orders he would have known he could not have made the statements.
"If he (Volney) followed the Standing Orders he would have known he could not criticise a sitting judge," Guerra added. He said disciplinary proceedings must be taken for politicians who use the Parliament to make unwarranted statements. "They should be made to pay the penalty for their wayward tongues," he added.
