Providenciales, 19 Nov 2014 – The trial without jury repeal bill barely made it, but it did scrape through the House of Assembly and is now passed to go to the Committee of the House for consideration. Not a law, but en route to the committee of the Whole House. The Attorney General, Rhondalee Knowles dropped a bombshell when she told the House Speaker that she had not been consulted or apart of the drafting of the bill… that prior to House convening, she had not even seen a copy of the document. In the AGs estimation it was unconstitutional for the repeal bill to be brought.
Nonetheless, the Speaker allowed it and it is now to be considered for further debate… however, it is unclear if the repeal bill will overturn the Court of Appeal decision on trial without a jury being an option for court proceedings here in the Turks and Caicos. And it is uncertain if there is a change, if it would be in time for the trials of Michael Misick and others from the 2007 PNP Administration who are charged with corruption. Those trials are announced to begin on December1. It is expected that the decision to uphold trial without a jury which was in 2010 enacted by the UK Interim Administration, will be appealed at the Privy Council in London.
