Magistrates’ Court ‘ultra vires’

ATTORNEYS Osborne Char-les SC and Ravi Rajcoomar yesterday accused the Customs Department of the Customs and Excise Division of asking the Magistrates’ Court to make a declaration in a civil proceeding over which it (the Court) had no jurisdiction.

Osborne and Rajcoomar were making submissions before Magistrate David Harris at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Third Court for the dismissal of fraud matters involving their clients, former insurance executive Dennis Davidson and businessman Rene Martinez. Martinez was represented by Rajcoomar and Davidson by Charles. Davidson and Martinez were charged with evading import duties of Customs in the sum of $95,674.69 between August 19 and 20, 1997 at Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain. They were also charged with falsifying a document dated August 15, 1997. The charges were laid by senior Customs Officer Anthony Springer. The two, who had then signed admission statements, were each fined $96,000 on August 20, 1997, but had neglected to pay the fines. In an attempt to recover the fines, Davidson and Martinez were charged under the section for recovery of penalty of the Customs Act. 

In their submissions the attorneys said the charges laid against their clients in 1997 had already been heard and adjudicated upon by the Chief Preventive Inspector, Ralph Newton, acting on behalf of the then Comptroller of Customs, Kawanhar Doopan, and should not be heard a second time at the Magistrates’ Court. In addition, Charles said, according to Section 246 of the Customs Act, there was a chronological sequence to be followed in the recovering of unpaid fines. He said the Customs Department was supposed to “sue for, prosecute and then recover by the judgment.” Since the Department had neglected to first sue the men, Charles said, it could not now attempt to use the judicial system to recover the fines. Attorney representing the Customs Department, Chaitram Bhola, will make his submissions, both orally and in writing, at the next hearing on November 21.