P.M. Says Bar is Political and Won’t Succeed in Justice Awich Challenge

Dean Barrow

The Prime Minister was at the National Call to Action Conference on Women and Girls’ Financial Health hosted by his wife, Kim Simplis Barrow, when he was drilled by the media. Still speaking on the issue of Justice Awich, Barrow directed his ire at the Bar Association. According to the PM, the Bar is political and will not succeed in its challenges on Justice Awich. In June 2014, Awich was reappointed for an additional seven years on the Court of Appeal. So the PM says the Bar can “put that in their pipes and smoke it.”

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“I will tell you that clearly the bar association or those that control the bar association have a history of difficulty with Awich. They have lodged several challenges, they’ve tried to get him recuse from cases when he was a judge of the Supreme Court and they have lost every time. There is no doubt in my mind that there is politics behind the serial challenges. There is no doubt in my mind that this small group that is in control of the association—I won’t say that has hijacked the association because obviously they have been voted in and they control the meetings because the vast majority of people don’t go to the meetings.”

Reporter

“But you done say it…”

Dean Barrow

Samuel Awich

“Well that’s your interpretation. I don’t know what sort of psychological effect it has on the good justice, but I know that practically, these people will get nowhere. Mister Justice Awich has been reappointed; this time they complained about short term appointments, well he has been reappointed for I think seven years. So they can take that, put it in their pipes and smoke it. Careful what you ask for. They don’t want short term appointments. He has a seven year appointment that as far as I can tell was done in a fashion that is absolutely in consonance with the requirements of the law. I think he is there, god willing, health and strength allowing, to stay for the length of that seven year period.”