Last Updated on May 22, 2020, 6:36 AM AST by Anthony Morris
A bulletin board notice on state-owned ZIZ Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC – ZIZ Radio & TV) on Monday morning has raised the concerns of conflict of interest in the Office of the Prime Minister and the Registry of the High Court by several residents in light of the present general elections campaign.
The individuals have expressed concern of the access of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) to the St Kitts High Court if it becomes necessary, as the High Court Registrar, Mrs Janine Harris-Lake, is the sister of the Prime Minister, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris and in light of recent statements of her behavior in a court matter which involved Minister of Tourism, Hon Lindsay Grant and Youth Ambassador His Excellency Jonel Powell.
“Persons with queries who wish to communicate with the Court must do so by email addressed to the Registrar of the High Court. In St Kitts the email address is registryskn@gov.kn,” the announcement read.
However, there is concern that if lawyers acting on behalf of the leadership or a candidate of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party have to access a judge of the High Court, they could face challenges as have happened in the past.
Resident High Court Judge, His Lordship Mr Justice Eddy Ventose in a recent ruling highlighted several abuses of the court process by Harris-Lake in the Tanzania Tanzil v Lindsay Grant et al matter.
Powell and Grant are partners in the law firm of Grant and Powell.
In his 31-page ruling, Justice Ventose noted that in the Tanzil-Grant-Powell case, an ex parte application was filed by lawyers for Tanzil at 12:10 p.m. on January 23, 2018 and that in an affidavit in support of the application to set aside the default judgment, Powell and Grant on that same date “through an agent,” learnt that an application for default judgment was filed by Tanzil.
“It is very unlikely that from 12:10 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. when the court office closes, the ex-parte application would have been placed on the court file in this matter. It seems more likely than not, that someone in the court office informed the defendants *(Grant and Powell) of the Claimant’s *(Tanzil’s) ex parte application. If this is correct, it raises serious questions concerning the confidentiality of court documents and processes,” Justice Ventose wrote.
Perusing the ex-parte application for the default judgment, Justice Ventose, a former Professor of Law at the University of the West Indies, also noted that it should have been immediately placed before the High Court Judge or Master for determination and the only the High Court Judge or Master had jurisdiction to order that the Claimant (Tanzil) give notice to the Defendants (Grant and Powell).
“Given the nature of the application notice to the Defendants would serve no purpose,” said Justice Ventose, who pointed out that in the ruling that “only a High Court Judge or Master may exercise any powers of the court.”
He also observed that the “court office may not, under any circumstances, exercise any power, albeit only a procedural one, of the High Court Judge or Master,” adding: “It is not correct for anyone in the court office to inform Defendants of the Claimant’s ex-parte application for default judgment.”
Justice Ventose stressed that “public confidence in the administration of justice in St Christopher and Nevis will be seriously and perhaps irreparably eroded if the public perceives that the court office “pick sides in disputes coming before the court particularly where that dispute involves public figures, politicians or government officials.”
He said “systems must immediately be put in place to ensure that this never happens again.”
“It goes without saying that the court office in carrying out its essential functions must always remain neutral between opposing parties in disputes coming before the court in St Christopher and Nevis. If this persists or become an entrenched part of the culture of the court office, the court will not hesitate to use its powers under its inherent jurisdiction to preserve its processes from any actual or attempt to misuse or abuse,” said Justice Ventose.
He continued: “It could not have been correct for the Registrar of the High Court to direct Counsel *(for Tanzil) to come and explain the ex-parte application to her because the ex-parte application was simply not one over which she had no jurisdiction. The court is of the opinion that it could see no good reason why this ex-parte application was not immediately listed for hearing before a High Court Judge or Master. Moreover, if there were any serious issue with such an application, (or any other), it should have been brought immediately to the attention of a High Court Judge or Master.”
Justice Ventose said it “is completely unacceptable that an application that was filed on January 23, 2018 was listed by the court office to be heard by a Master approximately nine (9) months later on October 9, 2018.”
“The administration of justice will effectively be compromised if this were to become common practice,” he said.
Justice Ventose also noted that the concerns of Counsel for the Claimant in his letter to the Registrar of the High Court, Mrs Janine Harris-Lake, dated May 23, 2018 “appear to the court to be entirely justified.”
Justice Ventose pointed to a note dated February 16, 2018 with the initials of Registrar Janine Harris-Lake stating: “Counsel to come and explain this application to me as I am confused.”
On May 23, 2018, the Claimant wrote to the Registrar indicating why after 4 months the Claimant’s ex parte application for default was returned to them with no date set for hearing by High Court Judge or Master.
On July 18, 2018, Counsel for Claimant again wrote to the Registrar noting that this letter was a final pre-action letter before filing an application for leave to apply for judicial review seeking to elicit appropriate actions and or responses from the Registrar in her capacity as Registrar of the High Court.
On July 25, 2018 – The Registrar replied noting that she took serious issue with the contents and tone of the May 23, 2018 letter which she states is a “patent attempt to malign (her)self, (her) brother *(Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris)*
and the Government of this Federation.”
The Registrar of the High Court continued that Counsel’s “accusations are baseless and appear to be politically motivated and far exceed the ambit of reasonable representation” of the Claimant.
Janine Harris-Lake further wrote that she found Counsel’s letter to be “very insolent and disrespectful and in demanding me to act; you have overstepped your bounds. I take instructions from the Chief Justice, the Judge, Master and Chief Registrar and no one else.”
On October 9, 2018 – The High Court entered Judgment in Default with terms to be determined. The Court recognised that the application to set aside default judgment was premature and dismissed it because judgment had not been entered at the time of filing of the application to set aside the default judgment.
The Court also dismissed the application to strike out the claim form and statement of case because the request for judgment in default was first in time and had not been determined in accordance with CPR 2000.
The judgment notes that the Application for Extension of Time was filed (two years and one month – 25 months) after the deadline to file a defense was passed and that the Registrar perfected the October 9, 2018 default judgment (16 months after the court entered the judgment in default.
In his judgment, Justice Ventose found Grant and Powell liable for breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and failure to account or misappropriation of US$460,000 (EC$1.2 million) belonging to a client, Tanzania Tobing Tanzil.
He also ordered Grant and Powell appear before a Disciplinary Tribunal of two Judges of the High Court to consider whether they should be suspended from practicing for a specified period of time or be struck off from the Court Roll.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
