Mr J S Archibald, Q.C.
J S Archibald QC Wins Important Case
The St. Vincent resident High Court Judge Mr. Justice Odel Adams gave Judgment on Friday 3 November 2000 in the Supreme Court of Grenada dismissing a civil action brought on 23 May 2000 by Agnita Alexis a citizen of Grenada against an Acting High Court Judge in Grenada Mr Lyle K St Paul and also against the present Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Sir Dennis Byron in his capacity as Chairman of The Judicial and Legal Services Commission. The plaintiff alleged that Mr St. Paul who retired on 17 February 2000 from his post as a High Court Judge upon reaching the mandatory maximum retirement age of 65, was unconstitutionally appointed as an Acting High Court Judge with effect from the next day 18 February 2000 by the Chief Justice in his role of Chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; and that all judicial acts purported to have been performed by the Acting Judge from 18 February 2000 (including the delivery of a reserved Judgment against the plaintiff from a civil Trial on 3 February 2000) were null, void and of no effect whatsoever. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Grenada during five days in September 2000. The plaintiff was represented by Mr. Michael Sylvester of Counsel of the Grenada Bar. The Acting Judge and Chief Justice were represented by Mr J S Archibald QC of the Virgin Islands Bar assisted by Mr Sydney A Bennett of Counsel of the Virgin Islands Bar and by the Grenada Crown Counsel Mr Robert Alexis. In his Judgment of 33 pages Mr Justice Adams said that the case was of some constitutional importance, but he dismissed the plaintiff's action on all the grounds raised by Counsel for the Defence, and the plaintiff was ordered to pay the legal costs. Among the grounds for dismissal of the action the judge ruled that the acting appointment was constitutional and valid under the Courts Order 1967 governing the appointment of all Judges and Acting Judges; that under the Courts Order there was no age limit for an Acting Judge; that the plaintiff had no legal standing to bring the action as a private citizen without the approval of the Attorney General to vindicate what she perceived as a public wrong; that the Acting Judge was immune from legal suit; and that the provisions of the Courts Order governing the acting appointment had been proclaimed by the Constitution of Grenada to be a part of the Law of Grenada. Mr Justice Adams ruled that it was wrong in law to bring the action against the Chief Justice in his capacity as Chairman of The Judicial and Legal Services Commission because in such capacity he himself has no constitutional power to appoint a Judge or an Acting Judge; only the Commission itself had such power, and it would have been necessary to sue all the Members of the Commission together as in a recent Trinidad & Tobago case which reached the Privy Council in England.