Retired CJ appointed Privy Council judge

RETIRED Chief Justice Michael De la Bastide, who was nominated to be President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ),  has been appointed a Privy Council judge. De la Bastide left last night with his family aboard BWIA flight 900 for London where he will be sworn in tomorrow by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. De la Bastide was one of three Caribbean jurists who were appointed to the Privy Council. The others were Sir Dennis Byron, Chief Justice of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Madame Justice Joan Haynes, of the Bahamas. They will join another Caribbean jurist, Justice Edward Zacca of Jamaica, who recently sat with eight Law Lords in the historic death penalty appeal in March.

De la Bastide is the second Trinidad and Tobago national to sit in the Privy Council, the first being the late Sir Hugh Wooding, former Chief Justice. De la Bastide has had a distinguished career in law. An island scholarship winner from St Mary’s College, he was a leading attorney at the Bar and was at one time President of the Bar Association. De la Bastide was made a senior counsel and was later awarded the Trinity Cross, the nation’s highest award. He left private practice in 1995 to take up the post of Chief Justice. He retired in July 2002. Contacted last night, De la Bastide told Newsday that he was very honoured to be appointed to the Privy Council.

He said he was asked some time ago if he would take up another judicial appointment. “I said why not and I accepted it.” He said he had planned months ago to go to London on a vacation with his family. “It was just coincidental that the swearing in will take place while I am there.” The former Chief Justice said he received his letter last Wednesday informing him of the appointment and the swearing in ceremony. Newsday learnt that the letter came from British Prime Minister Tony Blair. De la Bastide believes that the Caribbean must be proud of the three appointments. “In the opinion of the judges of the Privy Council themselves, we have judges competent to sit on the final court of appeal. I think it is a tribute to the region and for the lawyers and the judiciary.”

Asked if this appointment will conflict with his nomination for the post of President of the CCJ, De la Bastide said no. He pointed out that there is no obligation on a member from outside London to sit on the Judicial Committee. “It is really an honourary one and a member will sit when it is convenient to him or when it concerns the jurisdiction from where he comes.” The former Chief Justice said the difficulty of the distance and access to the Privy Council which many litigants experience will apply to the judges. He said judges from the Caribbean sit very rarely on the Privy Council.

He pointed out that the Law Lords are members of the House of Lords who also sit on the Privy Council. He sees no problem with him sitting as a Privy Council judge. He pointed out that New Zealand has abolished appeals to the Privy Council, yet its Chief Justice still sits on the Judicial Committee. “This appointment is an endorsement of our own ability to staff a final court of our own. This appointment will help strengthen the case for the CCJ. It is very positive for the region, it does not diminish my commitment to the CCJ, or my conviction that all Caricom countries ought to accept the CCJ as our final court of appeal,” De la Bastide added.

Ramesh: De la Bastide will match Law Lords

By AZARD ALI

FORMER Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC, said yesterday that former Chief Justice Michael De la Bastide could not have been invited to sit as a judge of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council without an amendment to the British judicial practice. This was necessary, Maharaj added, because Trinidad and Tobago is no longer a British colony. Being a republic, Maharaj said, our Head of State who is a President was no longer a representative of the Queen of England. Such an appointment therefore, Maharaj added, could have only been effected by an amendment to the British practice with our Government facilitating such.

“Most likely, the Trinidad and Tobago Government facilitated the appointment in some way,” Maharaj said. While AG, Maharaj crossed swords with former CJ De la Bastide on the question of  accountability of the judiciary to the administrative arm of Government. The issue led to the then Government appointing a Commission of Inquiry, the findings of which vindicated the position Maharaj took. In a telephone interview yesterday, Maharaj said that as the former AG, he advocated for the CJ to sit as a member of the Privy Council. “I questioned why CJs of other commonwealth countries were being appointed, and not us,” Maharaj added.

Maharaj said De la Bastide is the second local judge invited to sit in the Privy Council, Sir Hugh Wooding being the first. Maharaj said that De la Bastide’s judgments were very often supported by Privy Council judges “and I have no doubt his (De la Bastide’s) expertise will match those of the judges of the Privy Council.” Maharaj recalled that he once worked with De la Bastide as his junior counsel, but also opposed him in many High Court cases. “His forensic skills as a lawyer are well known and established,” Maharaj said.

Seunath: How was he appointed?

THE basis for the appointment of former Chief Justice Michael De la Bastide to sit as a judge of the Privy Council, was yesterday questioned by president of the Assembly of Southern Lawyers, Hendrickson Seunath SC. Being a republican state with no legal ties to Britain, Seunath told Newsday, “there must have been some other form of facilitating the appointment.” The Queen of England no longer being the titular Head of State of Trinidad and Tobago, the assembly president explained, raised the question of how the appointment was made. But Seunath said that he would prefer to reserve comment until it is determined whether De la Bastide’s appointment is a permanent one on the Privy Council’s judicial body, or merely a temporary appointment to adjudicate on a particular case. Seunath, however, questioned whether conflict would arise in the recent appointment of De la Bastide as President-designate of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

“That is why one has to look at the basis of his appointment,” Seunath added. At a time when we are moving away from the Privy Council and setting up the Caribbean Court of Justice, Seunath said: “we have the President-designate becoming a member of the Privy Council.” Seunath added: “Until one sees the basis for the invitation to sit as a member of the Privy Council, whether temporarily or permanent, can one comment in the context of him heading the CCJ.”

CJ: We have talent in the Caribbean

CHIEF JUSTICE Sat Sharma pointed out yesterday that he has been saying that the people of the Caribbean have the talent to match their colleagues in the Privy Council. He said the appointment of his predecessor Michael De la Bastide as a Privy Council judge confirmed what he has been saying for a long time. “We have always had people of the calibre. We have had this before and we will continue to have it. We have people who are distinguished jurists and the calibre of the people has never been in doubt.”