One of the pillars of the administration of justice is the principle that open justice is fundamental to the rule of law and democratic accountability. That principle reaches its highest expression in judicial review cases and constitutional motions. The whole purpose of such cases is to put the processes by …
Read More »Daly Bread: Trying again to get somewhere; hard truths from Prime Minister and Opposition Leader
The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition seemed to agree at their meeting on Tuesday last that there could not be any constitutionally sound legislative solution to the crisis, which the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) created as a result of its bungled appointment and the subsequent …
Read More »DALY BREAD: Bats and fads, Twitter-ish judges, Marcia twists and importance of JLSC review
It is difficult to move away from the current controversies swirling around the judiciary. With the revelation, last Sunday, of Mrs Marcia Ayers-Caesar’s version of what took place between her and the Chief Justice regarding unfinished cases—part-heard matters—the plot has thickened. It is now common ground that on the evening …
Read More »MEDIA MONITOR: Who will safeguard the media vs the Guardian? And the CJ vs the Express?
More or less 20%. That is the share of the newspaper market that the Guardian has enjoyed (if that is the right verb) for several years now. It is also the figure that, according to a former Guardian editor of fairly recent vintage, is more than adequate provided that that …
Read More »DALY BREAD: Why we’re right to challenge power—be it a Permanent Secretary, President or Chief Justice
In relation to the huge Marcia mess created by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC), there is no need to explain again the critical difference between the powers vested by law to deal with errant public officials and the complementary role of public opinion. Robust public opinion encourages accountability …
Read More »DALY BREAD: Exercising power without legitimacy; why Chief Justice must say “goodbye” not “sorry”
On Thursday last, by a vote of nearly 2 to 1 in the case of each resolution, the members of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago, (LATT) the governing body for lawyers, declared their loss of confidence in the Chief Justice. By a similar margin, it dealt with the …
Read More »DALY BREAD: I have no confidence left in the JLSC
The furore arising from the appointment as a High Court judge, subsequent resignation and the purported “restoration” of Mrs Marcia Ayers-Caesar, the former Chief Magistrate, as a magistrate has not died down. However, as the story emerges, public opinion now contains feelings of mercy for Mrs Marcia Ayers-Caesar. I am …
Read More »Daly, Dumas troubled by revelations on magistrate Quinlan-Williams, Carmona and JLSC
“[Avason Quinlan-Williams] has very recently been appointed a High Court judge and we are absolutely satisfied that the public interest requires that the determination of the disciplinary tribunal be released, so that the public can be assured of the propriety of the appointment of Mrs Quinlan-Williams to the office of …
Read More »Not even a little beg pardon?! Daly hits arrogance of blundering T&T bodies
My deceased mother, Celia, had a number of priceless expressions. Many of them applied to persons who got “too big for their boots.” Getting too big for your own boots could be a gradual process. When it happened overnight she discerned that it was an immediate attack of “position-itis”—a condition …
Read More »Daly: Seven questions for JLSC; why body cannot escape its failures in Ayers-Caesar appointment
The statement issued on Tuesday by the JLSC is little more than a confession that it failed to do independent due diligence of its own and was duped as a consequence. This is obvious from the core defence of the JLSC that: Reasonable due diligence is satisfied by seeking an assurance that …
Read More »DALY BREAD: Far from closed; JLSC’s damage of the Judiciary must carry consequence!
The Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) blundered when it appointed Mrs Marcia Ayers-Caesar to the office of a Judge of the High Court. At the time of the JLSC’s decision to appoint her, Mrs Ayers-Caesar was the Chief Magistrate and had a list of unfinished cases before her. One …
Read More »DALY BREAD: Ayers-Caesar fiasco “monumentally troubling;” JLSC members should go
The latest round of appointments to the High Court bench and the ensuing fiasco raises the urgent need to find a constitutional mechanism to hold the Judicial and Legal Service Commission accountable. Steps must be taken with a far less leisurely timetable than the one recently suggested by the Law …
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