Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC has written to the Registrar of the High Court asking “who authorised a gag order” on documents filed on behalf of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar against Chief Justice Ivor Archie, the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and the President.
In his letter to the Registrar, Maharaj asked that the media be informed there is “no gag or seal” on the documents. He gave the Registrar until 4 pm yesterday to respond, failing which he said he will embark on a public course of action.
The matter involving Ayers-Caesar is listed for hearing by Justice David Harris but a date for the hearing has not yet been set.
Well placed legal sources have told the T&T Guardian that for the Registrar to seal the documents from the public, an application to a judge would have had to be made.
The legal fraternity was abuzz with questions yesterday about how so important a matter could have found its way to such a junior judge. Lawyers who spoke to the T&T Guardian said “this is a matter of international importance and there are many experienced judges who could have been assigned, including Justices Kokaram, Dean-Armorer or any other senior judge.
But Israel Khan SC said “it does not matter who is the judge because it will be a question of law and fact.” He said any judgement given “could be corrected by the Court of Appeal and if the Court of Appeal is wrong it could go all the way to the Privy Council, where no matter the ruling the Privy Council is always right, that is the final court of appeal.”
Pastor Clive Dottin also yesterday voiced concern about the gag order placed on documents. He said the “judicial gag order will not increase confidence in the system of justice.”
“Justice is a flower that must be preserved. One must not roast justice on the altar of expediency. Why this gag order? What is there to hide?”
He said “whatever erodes transparency will undermine trust and respect.”
The judiciary, he said, had found itself in a “quagmire because of suicidal blunders,” and in this scenario he felt the “guardians of justice must display the highest levels of integrity.”
He added that those of who will suffer most are “those at the lowest end of the socio-economic ladder.”
“The imploding has begun and the transitioning out of this present crisis requires consistency and due diligence. The wheels of justice may turn slowly but they turn. Nobody should be above the law,” Dottin said.