High Court judge David Harris will rule on September 28 whether former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar can take legal action against the Judicial Legal Services Commission (JLSC) and President Anthony Carmona over her resignation in April.
Ayers-Caesar is seeking a judicial review against the JLSC chaired by Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Carmona, challenging what she said was her forced resignation as a judge, deeming it to be illegal. The matter came up for hearing in the San Fernando High Court before Harris yesterday.
Ayers-Caesar was represented by Senior Counsel, Ramesh Lawrence-Maharaj and his legal team. The application, inclusive of a witness statement belonging to Ayers-Caesar, was filed last week.
Ayers-Caesar is also suing the JLSC and the Office of the Attorney General.
Attorneys Russell Martineau SC, Deborah Peake SC, Ian Benjamin and Ian Roach represented the JLSC while Reginald Armour SC, Ravi Hesses-Doon and Ravi Nanga appeared the Office of the Attorney General.
Ayers-Caesar, took the oath before President Carmona on April 12. She later tendered her resignation on April 27 and on that same day, Archie issued a statement accusing her of not making himself or the JLSC aware of the “full extent of her obligation in the Magistrates’ Court before she was sworn in.”
In reference to some 53 part-heard matters that Ayers-Caesar had pending at the Magistrates’ Court, Archie accused her of failing “to manage the transition from the magistracy to the High Court in a way which ensured that undue hardship was not placed on stake holders.”
Yesterday, Maharaj presented the application for leave to file for judicial review on Ayers-Caesar’s behalf, telling the court that she had been forced to sign a resignation letter that had been written for her by the CJ’s secretary on April 27, 2017.
He said an appointment had been made for her to meet Carmona by the JLSC. He said both of these things, among others, constituted a breach of the Section 137 of the Constitution which states a judge can only be removed from office for misbehaviour and an inability to perform the function of office.
He submitted that the actions of the JLSC and Carmona were unlawful and unfair to Ayers-Caesar and amounted a constructive dismissal and constructive removal from her position as a judge. He further submitted the actions of both parties threatened the judicial independence and security of tenure of judges.
Harris ordered that the JLSC and the AG’s office file their responses to the application on or before September 8, 2017. Maharaj was given 14 days after that to file any response to the two parties.
The matter was then set for hearing on September 28, 2017 at the Port-of-Spain High Court.