A group of state attorneys yesterday scored a minor victory in their quest to participate in this year's Law Association elections. In an emergency court hearing, less than 24 hours before the scheduled election date, Appeal Judge Allan Mendonca granted an injunction ordering that the elections be postponed until after April 18.
The postponement will facilitate state attorneys who want to vote in the elections, by giving them extra time to pay the association's fees. The action, which was brought by a group of almost 300 state attorneys, or law officers, followed High Court Judge Maureen Rajnauth-Lee's statutory-interpretation decision on Monday.
In her judgment, Rajnauth-Lee said: "Parliament intended that in order to attend and vote at general meetings or at an election of members of the council, or to be elected to the council, state attorneys must pay the association's annual subscriptions." In addition to yesterday's injunction hearing, Mendonca granted the attorneys leave to appeal Rajnauth-Lee's judgment in April.
Mendonca said if the attorneys' appeal succeeded, those who paid the fees so that they could vote in the election would be reimbursed by the association. According to the Legal Profession Act, which Rajnauth-Lee was asked to interpret, a state attorney or law officer is exempt from paying those annual fees and from contributing to the Compensation Fund.
Such officers include lawyers at the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Chief State Solicitor and Chief Parliamentary Counsel.