Suspend the Chief MagistrateBy NEWSDAY REPORTERS Tuesday, June 19 2007
KENNETH LALLA SC, former member of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) yesterday described the present Commission members as “confused” and said they were wrong not to have suspended Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls.
He criticised their reported decision to defer disciplinary action against Mc Nicolls on the grounds that suspension would do more harm than good and was not in the public interest.
Lalla, who is also a former chairman of both the Public Service and Police Service Commissions, said the reason given by the JLSC that the Chief Magistrate was involved in a number of important matters had no merit.
“Suppose the Chief Magistrate dies or decides to go on vacation, what happens to these matters? If he dies they will have to be restarted,” he said.
“If he goes on leave they will have to be postponed. But to suspend the Chief Justice and allow to preside in court, the Chief Magistrate who made serious allegations against the Chief Justice and then refused to be cross-examined, is not even-handed justice and adds to the view that the Judiciary is under siege,” he added.
He said that in order to preserve the integrity of the Judiciary, the Chief Magistrate ought to have been suspended. Lalla said he could not understand why the JLSC had failed to resolve the issue when they met. “Even if two members of the four-member Commission were against suspension and two others (the chairman and one other) were in favour, the Chairman has a casting vote and the matter could have been resolved,” Lalla added.
The JLSC comprises five members. Chief Justice Sat Sharma, two former Justices of Appeal, Lionel Jones and Jean Permanand, Selby Wooding QC and Christopher Thomas, Chairman of the Police Service Commission.
According to a newspaper report on Sunday, when the JLSC met to consider allegations that Mc Nicolls’ decision not to testify in the Sharma matter was prejudicial to the administration of justice, acting Chief Justice Roger Hamel-Smith disqualified himself. The Commission was down to four members and was chaired by Mr Wooding.
It was reported that Mr Jones and Ms Permanand were not in favour of suspension while Mr Wooding was reportedly in favour of disciplinary action against Mc Nicolls.
It was not clear what was the view of Mr Thomas but the report said he asked a question relative to the suspension of the Chief Magistrate.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Wooding said he had not been able to read Sunday’s newspaper report as he had cataract surgery over the weekend, and in any event, it would be inappropriate for him to comment.
Former Chief Justice and Chairman of the JLSC Michael de la Bastide also said through his secretary that it would be inappropriate for him to comment.
The Criminal Bar Association which summoned a press conference for 2 pm yesterday, later cancelled without explanation. The Chief Justice was suspended by President Max Richards last week pending a Tribunal set up to investigate allegations made by the Chief Magistrate that he (the Chief Justice) tried to influence the outcome of the trial of former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday on offences against the Integrity in Public Life Act.
Mc Nicolls found Panday guilty and sentenced him to jail. The Appeal Court, before giving its reserved judgment reopened the case in the light of Mc Nicolls failure to allow himself to be cross-examined in the case against the Chief Justice. The Appeal Court dismissed the case against Panday on the grounds of apparent bias on the part of Mc Nicolls.
In the meantime, Mc Nicolls continues to hear the Piarco matter and several other high profile cases, including the extradition of three men wanted by the US for conspiring to blow up JFK International airport in New York.
