A High Court judge has refused to grant a stay of the preliminary inquiries into the fraud allegations arising out of the almost $1.6 billion Piarco International Airport construction project. In an oral ruling delivered in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Justice Mira Dean-Armorer dismissed the application which was being sought by businessman Ameer Edoo and three insurance companies.
The insurance companies are Maritime Life (Caribbean) Ltd, Maritime General Insurance Co Ltd and Fidelity Finance and Leasing Co Ltd.Dean-Armorer's decision now clears the way for the continuation of the Piarco II preliminary inquiry which was adjourned several times this year while Dean-Armorer was adjudicating a constitutional motion challenging the repeal of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Offences) Act.
The next hearing of the inquiry, which is being heard before Magistrate Ejenny Espinet in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court is scheduled for Friday.In their application, Edoo and the companies contended they were entitled to the stay under Section 14 of the Constitution, which regulates constitutional motions.Dean-Armorer rejected the argument, saying it was the repeal of Section 34, and not the preliminary inquiries, that was being contested in their lawsuit. She said: "The magistrates court proceedings are remote from what is being appealed."
Despite Dean-Armorer's dismissal of the application, Edoo and the companies may still possibly receive the stay.A similar application, which was filed in the Court of Appeal by businessman Steve Ferguson, is expected to be heard next Monday. Edoo has also filed an appeal but the insurance companies were yet to do so up to late last week.
The application forms part of Ferguson's appeal of Dean-Armorer's 175-page judgment in the Section 34 constitutional motion.
In her judgment, which was delivered on April 5, Dean-Armorer dismissed all eight grounds raised by the three parties and ruled that the repeal of the controversial legislation was not unconstitutional. The judge was initially reluctant to hear the application for the stay but reconsidered after hearing submissions from lawyers representing Edoo and the companies.
Facts
After Section 34 was proclaimed on August 31 last year, approximately 42 applicants filed motions to have their criminal cases dismissed. The act sought to abolish preliminary inquiries for serious criminal matters. It provided that if cases had not been started within ten years of the date an offence had been committed, the accused could apply to have the matter dismissed.The three parties, along with several of the other applicants under the legislation, who included businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh and former prime minister Basdeo Panday, all face fraud charges arising out of the construction of the Piarco International Airport.The others face unrelated criminal charges.Although similar legal challenges were filed by the other applicants after the repeal in September, last year, it was agreed during a preliminary hearing that the trio's lawsuits would be used as a test case which would decide the fate of the other applicants.
Lawyers in the case
Edoo was represented by Sophia Chote, SC, and Vijay Deonarine, while British Queen's Counsel Edward Fitzgerald appeared for the insurance companies.The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was represented by Ian Benjamin. Gerard Ramdeen appeared for the Attorney General.