Lawyer questions lengthy wait for election challenge to be heard

Attorney-at-law Lalu Hanuman is questioning why his general election appeal has not been heard by the court, more than three months after it was filed with a Certificate of Urgency.

He has written to Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham querying why the application, which he claimed could negate the results of the January 19, 2022 general election, has not yet been listed.

Hanuman had challenged the decision not to postpone the elections as well as President Dame Sandra Mason’s granting of Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s request for elections to be called.

The frustrated attorney has sent an email to the Chief Justice, titled Re: CVA0010/2022 -Philip Nathaniel Catlyn v President Sandra Prunella Mason et al, seeking movement on the case which he said is one of “national interest”.

“Given that it is a matter of national importance, I would be most grateful if a case management conference can be convened shortly,” Hanuman wrote.

A day before the general election, Hanuman, representing Philip Catlyn of the Barbados Sovereignty Party, went to the High Court for an injunction to postpone the polls, following Government’s decision not to allow eligible voters who were COVID-19 positive to cast their ballots.

Catlyn had claimed that the exclusion of more than 5 000 COVID-19 positive citizens from the election was in breach of Section 6 of the Representation of the People Act which enshrines the right of eligible residents and citizens to vote.

The applicant also accused President Dame Sandra of acting unreasonably when she accepted Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s request for an election in circumstances where thousands of persons could be disenfranchised.

The matter was heard by Justice Cicely Chase who ruled that the High Court had no jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter. She said such issues could only be heard by a special election court comprising three judges.

Hanuman subsequently appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal, and he is now lamenting that despite his action coming soon after Justice Chase’s ruling, there has been no movement.

“We got the hard copy of Justice Chase’s written decision on January 26 and two days later I filed the appeal. On January 30, we amended the appeal, and then on February 1, I filed an affidavit of urgency. So that’s more than three months till now…and nothing has happened, not even an acknowledgment or a scheduling of case management conference or anything, which is what should have happened,” he told Barbados TODAY.

“Given the certificate of urgency that was also filed, it should be dealt with with great alacrity but that hasn’t happened. Over three months is definitely too long. This matter should have been dealt with that same week. Normally, if you file a certificate of urgency the matter is dealt with within a week, within seven days and this is now over three months. And given that it is a matter that involves elections and it conceivably can negate the elections if we were to succeed, it should have been dealt with by now because it is a national interest issue.”

The Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won the January polls, securing all 30 seats in the House of Assembly for the second straight time.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb