Section 34 cases end

Justice Mira Dean-Armorer yesterday cleaned house as she granted permission for the applications to be withdrawn and made no orders for costs which was agreed to by the attorney for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“These matters were forgotten,” the judge said as she went through the list of applicants.

Those whose applications were withdrawn were: Russell Huggins, Renee Pierre, Anderson and Sherwin Meharris, Amrith Maharaj, Aman Harripersad, Collin Catlyn, Oswald Catlyn, Ishwar Galbaransingh, Northern Construction Ltd, Carlos John, Ameer Edoo, Steve Ferguson, Brian Kuei Tung, Barbara Gomes, John Henry Smith, Brent Alvarez, Carlton Roop, Dane Lewis, Montgomery Diaz, Maritime Life Caribbean, Sadiq Baksh, Fidelity Finance and Leasing Co Ltd, Basdeo and Oma Panday, Maritime General and Krishna Persad versus George Nicholas.

Dean-Armorer also had listed before her several constitutional claims in addition to the Section 34 applications but she heard the constitutional matters first and these were dismissed by her in April 2013.

Ferguson, Edoo, Maritime Life (Caribbean), Maritime General Insurance and Fidelity Finance filed constitutional motions and their cases were used as a test case that, if it succeeded, would have paved the way for the other accused to also have their matters dismissed.

However, Dean-Armorer ruled against them by dismissing all eight grounds argued in the lawsuits.

The Court of Appeal upheld the ruling.

They then petitioned the Privy Council and in January of last year but the London-based court cleared the way for the Piarco Airport fraud accused to go on to trial.

The London Law Lords said the repeal of Section 34 by Parliament on September 14, 2012, simply altered the general law by restoring it to what it had been before the controversial section was proclaimed.

Ferguson and Edoo had argued they had a legitimate expectation of being freed from prosecution under Section 34 and its repeal on September 14, 2012 was unconstitutional and in violation of the basic principles of law