Judicial Review case Virgil retains British QC

Sharma has been granted an injunction by Madame Justice Judith Jones to restrain Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Carla Brown-Antoine, Virgil, Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul and all members of the 7,000 strong police service from arresting him on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of public justice.

When the case was called before Jones in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Beloff was present. He will lead attorney Ian Benjamin for Virgil in the case. Beloff will be admitted to the local bar on Monday morning.

The hearing, which was in camera, was very short, just five minutes. It was adjourned to Monday. Sharma is challenging the decision to arrest him on the charge. He went to court on several occasions last week and effectively blocked everyone from arresting him.

Virgil and Paul have since asked the court to vacate the order and Justice Jones will give her decision on Monday.

Beloff is one of the senior lawyers in Blackstone Chambers, Temple, London. Born 1942, Beloff was admitted to the England bar in 1967 and was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1981.

He is considered one of the leading lawyers in administrative and public law, commercial law, unemployment law, media law, EU human rights law, and sports law. Beloff is not new to Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2001, he advised the legal team in the case of Winston “Gypsy” Peters and William Chaitan, who after winning their seats in the 2000 general elections were challenged on the ground that they had dual citizenship and therefore should not have gone up on a UNC ticket.

Beloff also gave advice to the team on petition brought against Patrick Manning and Eulalie James.