Law Association meets in emergency to discuss Bernard

THE LAW Association yesterday held an emergency meeting to discuss statements made by former Chief Justice Clinton Bernard, at Wednesday’s 167th sitting of the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco airport project, where he labelled former Justice Richard Crane as a “drunkard.”

The meeting was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Port-of-Spain. The Association was expected to issue a statement on its position on the matter. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson, who was also chastised by Bernard at the sitting, yesterday refused to comment on the matter. However, one attorney who participated in the Inquiry, Carol Gobin, in a release suggested that the country either ignore the “antics and shameful conduct” of Bernard and “pave the road to tyranny”; or those in authority intervene to “disband the Commission now.” She further expressed hope that if the latter measure was adopted, that the public “never remembers that the Chairman was a former Chief Justice, a holder of our nation’s highest award and an ‘eminent jurist’.” Gobin represented the former Airports Authority Chairman, Tyrone Gopee at the Inquiry. However, Gopee refused to take part in the proceedings because Gobin submitted that a proper explanation was never forwarded by the Commission as to why her client was named a “subject.”

Bernard on Wednesday used the live telecast of the Commission to allege that former Justice Richard Crane, who died last year, was a “drunkard.” In making the allegation Bernard boldly challenged anyone to sue him for his remark. Bernard’s allegation was made when he referred to a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson, in which the DPP drew Bernard’s attention to fairness at the Inquiry. Henderson used the Rees vs Crane judgement to make his point to Bernard. Bernard was upset at the reference and questioned how the Commission could be accused of not practicing fairness, when it had invited persons who were implicated to challenged the evidence given.  Crane was suspended from the bench in 1990 based on recommendations from the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC).