The Bar Association is suing Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin! It's a most unusual, certainly unprecedented turn of events, and it arises from a decision the CJ took almost two years ago. He sidelined the President of the Bar, Cheryl Lynn Vidal from the General Legal Services Commission. The CJ's problem is that Vidal is also the Director of Public Prosecutions - and as a public officer - his interpretation of the law is - she cannot sit on the General Legal Services Commission.
That's what the Bar is challenging. It says her seat on this constitutionally created commission is established to ensure independence in the hiring of judicial officers.
Today, Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck, who filed the suit for the Bar Association explained why he's suing the CJ:
Reporter
"You are suing the chief justice."
Andrew Marshalleck, Attorney for Bar Association
"Yes, he has raised a legal position to exclude the president of the bar. He suggested that because she held public office, she was disqualified by virtue of a section in the constitution of sitting on the commission. So she was excluded from the meeting, ask to withdraw from the meeting and since then she hasn't been invited to any further meetings. We say that the reasons offered for disqualifying her do not hold water. The arguments are really untenable because the constitution is really very clear that as president of the bar she must sit, must be a member of teh commission. The effect is that decisions are being taken by the commissioner in her absence and without any input whatsoever from the bar association. We consider that the input from the bar association through its president in such decision making to be critical to a proper functioning of the system and we find it really scandalous that no less than the chief justice would have chosen to exclude the president of the bar."
"The association has every confidence that its position is legally correct and that it has been wrong in the circumstances for more than a year by being excluded from these decisions. Not only that, but the validity of these decisions are now being brought into question."
Reporter
"This situation has persisted since March of 2018, am I right?"
Andrew Marshalleck
"Yes."
Reporter
"Man, you guys are attorneys. Why have you all been so slow to take up a matter of what seems to be urgent public interest?"
Andrew Marshalleck
"I think it's what you asked me off camera, is that nobody is willing to challenge the chief justice on it."
Reporter
"When one is suing the chief justice, he is the head of the judiciary and it is he who has to process this. It comes up from the registrar's office, as I understand it, to him and he assigns it to a judge."
Andrew Marshalleck
"Yes. That's how the normal claim would be handled. I would hope thats not how this one is being handled. I would expect it to be assign to the next senior judge, for that decision. A decision needs to be made."
Reporter
"It seems a very serious matter. Has it been handled, processed with the procedural alacrity one would expect from something that has the appearance of being urgent?"
Andrew Marshalleck
"I have every confidence that it will be properly handled, but so far it was filed in 22nd October and we haven't gotten anything back."
We'll let you know when this one has a hearing date.
Vidal has been president of the bar for two terms, which is the limit and she demits office early next year.
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