Chief Justice Ivor Archie is said to have been locked behind closed doors for much of yesterday in meetings with a team of attorneys as investigations by the Committee sent up by the Law Association to investigate allegations against him continue.
The T&T Guardian understands that the CJ met with a team of attorneys including Ian Roach and Ian Benjamin yesterday, but efforts to contact CJ Archie proved futile.
Calls to his cellphone went unanswered and there was no response to questions emailed to the Court and Protocol Officer Alicia Carter-Fisher.
Archie returned to the country on Boxing Day after being out of the country for several days on personal business.
In his absence, the committee investigating allegations against him submitted an interim report, but President of the Law Association Douglas Mendes told the T&T Guardian that the Committee will not be rushed in the work which it is doing.
The Committee, he said, will write to the CJ to get his response to the allegations in the public domain.
These include that he sought the assistance of HDC officials for a number of persons, an allegation which he has admitted to and which retired Chief Justice Michael De La Bastide described as an “error of judgement” on his part.
The CJ is also accused of holding discussions with someone who is not a judge about personal security for judges, a charge which he has denied.
Yesterday reports circulated on social media that Dillian Johnson the man who has been making public allegations against the Chief Justice had fled to the United Kingdom seeking political asylum.
Johnson who was shot outside his Gasparillo home more than a month ago has alleged that a high-ranking official and a special forces agent were involved in a plot to kill him.
Johnson is said to be upset with the pace of the police investigation.
In a December 15, press release Archie said there had been a discussion in the public domain about an attack on Johnson and he expects “the relevant authorities will urgently conduct a necessary and thorough investigation into this incident.”
The Police Service has said that allegations made by Johnson are being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Asked if he was aware of reports that Johnson had gone to the UK seeking political asylum Attorney General Faris Al Rawi told the T&T Guardian “I am not aware nor have I received any official contact on it at all.”
ABOUT POLITICAL ASYLUM
The UK website offers a detailed explanation as to how one can seek political asylum.
It states that “as a general rule, asylum seekers may apply for asylum only after entering the UK. Asylum applicants who meet the application criteria receive refugee status. Applicants who do not receive refugee status may still be granted leave to remain in the UK for humanitarian or other reasons if there is a real risk that they would suffer serious harm after returning to their country of origin.”
Applicants for asylum are fingerprinted and their information checked against databases to help prevent those with a known criminal background from entering the UK
The data is also cross-referenced against the Immigration Asylum Fingerprint system to ensure there are no duplicate applications.
In addition, the fingerprints are checked against the Eurodac database to ascertain whether the applicants have an outstanding application with another member state of the European Union. These procedures also help identify fraudulent visa applications.
Refugee status and humanitarian protection provide the individual with permission to reside in the UK for an initial period of five years, with the right to work and access welfare benefits.