The legal opinions of two distinguished Caribbean jurists support the recommendation of the Law Association of T&T to call upon Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to launch the constitutional process to investigate Chief Justice Ivor Archie for misbehaviour in public office.
Guardian Media has examined the opinions of former Grenada Attorney General Dr Francis Alexis QC and Eamon Courtenay SC, the former Attorney General of Belize, which form part of the bundle of documents submitted to Rowley by LATT on Thursday.
Allegations against Archie over his close association with two convicted fraudsters - Dillian Johnson and Kern Romero- and his direct intervention in fast-tracking housing applications for over a dozen people between 2013 and 2015, have raised questions about his judgement and threaten to erode the confidence in the administration of justice.
In one instance, Archie referred the names of three people - Dylan Huggins, Carol Williams and Felicia Pierre - to the Prime Minister, a claim left unanswered by both the CJ and the PM.
Sir Francis said from the evidence uncovered by the LATT investigative committee, it appeared the CJ did not recommend the names of three people to Rowley because he thought they were “needy and deserving,” but “because the help of the Chief Justice in this matter was sought by his close personal friend Kern Romero, who had received money from those three persons on his promising them that he could get the Chief Justice to intercede with the HDC on their behalf.”
He said the Chief Justice’s choice of friendship with Romero, a convicted fraudster, “showed extremely poor judgement, or lack of judgment, as Chief Justice, in entering and maintaining or developing a close personal relationship with a person who has the potential to bring the office of Chief Justice into disrepute.”
Sir Francis said the Chief Justice, as head of the Judiciary, has a “very heavy responsibility to be particularly circumspect about those whom he chooses as his personal friends. This is especially so regarding persons who are not in such circles as those in which a judge would ordinarily move, professionally or otherwise. Otherwise, a Chief Justice runs a most serious risk of being held accountable for showing extremely poor judgment in entering and maintaining or developing a close personal friendship with a person who has the potential to bring into disrepute both the office of the Chief Justice and the administration of justice.”
Law Association president Douglas Mendes SC, vice president Rajiv Persad, treasurer Theresa Hadad, Elton Prescott SC and Lynette Seebaran-Suite investigated the allegations and the membership approved their report at a special general meeting on Tuesday.
The voluminous report submitted by LATT contains statements by the former Housing Development Corporation (HDC) managing director Jearlean John, current managing director Brent Lyons, former housing minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, investigative journalist Deynse Renne and responses from the CJ and his legal team.
Attached is a series of WhatsApp messages and emails which Johnson and Romero shared with the reporter during a series of reports spanning from November 2017 to this year.
Courtenay, in his report, said the three people whose names were forwarded to the Prime Minister “did not receive their houses.” He said Romero was subsequently charged for defrauding them and admitted to the crime. The Chief Justice had referred that matter to the police to be investigated.
Courtenay found that the allegations in the Law Association’s final report were “serious and some of them are, prima facie, credible.”
“Further, the truth of the allegations require investigation because they have, as underscored by the (local) Court of Appeal, had a serious negative impact on the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago. In the circumstances, the Chief Justice should be given an opportunity to vindicate his reputation and to provide full and frank explanations so that public confidence can, if at all, be restored in this important branch of government,” Courtenay stated.
He found that from the evidence, he was satisfied “there is sufficient gravity to the allegation for the Association to send the final report to the Prime Minister.”
“It would be for the Prime Minister to call on the Chief Justice to respond to them. Inevitably, the Prime Minister ought reasonably to refer these serious allegations together with any response from the Chief Justice to the President,” he added.
Courtenay and Sir Francis found that there was sufficient basis for the PM to refer the matter to the President and that the question of removing the Chief Justice ought to be investigated. They both said it was for the PM and not LATT to decide if there was a sufficient basis to make the representation on whether the Chief Justice should be investigated.
Concerns have been raised on whether Rowley can trigger Section 137 because Archie had approached him to help three people get houses, but former Chief Justice Micheal de la Bastide said the doctrine of necessity allows for someone to act although there may be some bias, or they may be involved in the matter.
Once the PM, after seeking legal advice on the matter, is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to refer the matter to President Paula-Mae Weekes, he can suspend the Chief Justice from office until the outcome of the independent tribunal appointed by the President or where the Privy Council finds that there is an insufficient basis to remove him from office.