News
PDM ordered to pay 67% of Legal Fee as Application to reverse DMMO is stopped in Civil Court
Wilkie Arthur
Freelance Court Reporter
#TurksandCaicos, December 21, 2023 – Magnetic Media was the only news media house present in the Supreme Court in the afternoon hours on Monday, December 11th, 2023, as his Lordship handed down his ruling in the application for leave to apply for judicial review of the DMMO set in motion by the Opposition party, People’s Democratic Movement (PDM).
His Lordship promised to issue written detailed reasons for his decision that will be tailored in line with his verbal reasons, handed down, when he gave his decision orally in open court on December 11th, 2023.
No one from Attorney General Chambers, nor any representative of the PNP was present in person, in Court on decision day. However, they did appear by link in the persons of Senior Crown counsel civil division, Ms. Clemar Hippolyte and her junior assistant, Ms. Khadija Macfarlane.
PDM had a very strong support team at the decision hearing present in court, in the persons of Deputy leader of the opposition, Robert Been, Jr; Mr. Erza Taylor, PDM chairman; former minister of Tourism, Ralph Higgs and the PDM’s appointed member, Alvin Garland who on behalf of his party, filed the matter.
Representing the Application was George Missick, attorney at law.
Having heard the appearances in the matter, the judge went on to give his oral decision regarding the application.
He said the applicants did not move or act promptly and that resulted in undue delay in bringing the application before the Court.
He said that in his deliberation, he did invite the parties to provide further submissions and authorities in support of a specific area regarding the application, but what was provided did not take the case for the PDM any further.
He spoke about the guidelines outlined within the parliamentary Standing Orders, which provides recourse; adding that the PDM could have made use of those provisions.
The judge also said he agreed with the Attorney General Representative that he has no jurisdiction to QUASH two already passed bills which are now activated as part of TCI legislation governing the operation of the Destination Marketing and Management Organization, DMMO.
Justice Chris Selochan enforced this by outlining that he is in agreement with a very old case law which clearly supports that no parliament decision can be reviewed by any court of law, unless constitutional breaches exist or arise.
In this matter, the judge said the PDM application had no constitutional grounds.
As it relates to the PDM’S most forceful argument of “no proper consultation or no consultation at all,” the judge said, if he had granted leave to the PDM, this ground would have become relevant as he would have had to hear evidence in that regard.
However, as the case did not advance, the information was not really considered in the ‘application for leave’ stage.
Judge Selochan concluded by saying, in all the circumstances outlined, I therefore refuse leave to judicial review the DMMO.
He then invited Senior principal civil crown counsel Hippolyte to address the court on cost. She asked for full cost from the PDM as she said they should have never brought this application against the Government.
The court then heard from senior civil attorney Mr. George Missick on why they should not pay any cost at all but the Judge ruled that two-thirds of the cost must be paid by the PDM and if not, must be taxed in default.