Deposed judge seeks redress in Supreme Court
The case of Meerabux versus the Attorney General opened today in the courtroom of Supreme Justice Christopher Blackman. Having been removed from the bench by the Governor General on the advice of the Belize Advisory Council, former Justice George Meerabux is seeking redress in the Supreme Court for what he claims are the infringement of his constitutional rights.
First, some background. Acting on complaints from the Bar Association, the Advisory Council acted under Section 98 of the constitution and convened a tribunal of its members to consider the question of removing Meerabux from office on grounds of misbehaviour. After hearing testimony from a number of witnesses, the tribunal concluded that there was enough evidence to warrant the judge’s removal from the bench.
A number of actions taken by Meerabux were cited by the Council in its report. On several instances, he appeared to collude with Solicitor General Gian Ghandi on cases in which Ghandi was a party to the proceedings, with Ghandi actually helping write the judge’s opinions. The tribunal also concluded that Meerabux improperly reduced a defendant’s bail and later had an amorous affair with her. A perhaps more serious conclusion was that Meerabux took money from both a civil litigant and criminal defendant to rule in their favour. Having removed Meerabux from the bench, the former judge is now essentially saying that in doing what it did, the Belize Advisory Council violated his constitutional rights. I have with me in the studio News Director Stewart Krohn who was in the courtroom this morning. Stewart, what progress was made in the case today?
Stewart Krohn
“Quite a bit actually, but I first have to state that I have to be a little bit cautious tonight, specifically because in the opening of the trial this morning, Justice Blackman made a very pointed statement addressed to the media. Apparently, he was listening to one of the radio shows this morning and said that he was very disturbed by what he heard on the radio. He said that in the future he will not hesitate to find journalists in contempt if they stray too far from facts. He reminded journalists that Mr. Meerabux has rights, which must be protected, and he will in fact protect them as long as he is before him in his courtroom.
He also warned that the press “should be careful not to be used in any respect.” I think that many of us in the media are aware that in this case there are a lot of people who are trying to put different spins on the case, a lot of people who are trying to protect themselves and have a great stake in what the media has to say about their role in this case. This goes far beyond Justice Meerabux.
Having given that warning, Justice Blackman started to preside over the case. The lawyers for both sides, appearing for the appellant, that’s Justice Meerabux, are Kirk Anderson, Wilfred Elrington and Hubert Elrington. Appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, are government attorneys, Elson Kaseke, Ninette Haffiz and hired guns, Denys Barrow and Derek Courtenay.
The case opened with the lawyers for former judge Meerabux going over the grounds that they are going to use in the case. They reduced the number of grounds from nine to five, saying that the case will be much shorter than they had originally thought. Kirk Anderson began by outlining some of the information in the affidavits that had already been filed. Some of that information was give by yourself, Ava.
The basic argument that Mr. Meerabux’s attorney will be using, is that the procedure used by Belize Advisory Council to oust him from the bench, was contrary to natural justice. That even if the conclusions that the Belize Advisory Council tribunal reached, even if those conclusions were logical and correct, if they weren’t carried out fairly, then the decision that they came to, to remove him from the bench, must be null and void.
The trial only lasted a half-day today because of a funeral that had to be attended by one of the attorneys. The lawyers for former judge Meerabux, did get into their first ground, that Ellis Arnold, who is the chairman of the Belize Advisory Council, should have withdrawn from hearing the case in the tribunal because he is a member of the Bar Association, and the Bar Association is one of the people who brought the complaint in the first place before the Belize Advisory Council. So that argument is one of the five that they are going to make and they will continue with that tomorrow.”
Ava Lovell
“The people who may have conspired with Mr. Meerabux, do they face charges as well?”
Stewart Krohn
“Well, there is one thing that all of us have to understand in this. That is that contrary to what people may hear on the streets or in sections of the media, this particular trial that is going on now, really has nothing to do with the substance of the case or any of the behaviour that got Mr. Meerabux removed from the bench. There is not going to be titillating testimony about what Mr. Meerabux did or didn’t do to warrant being thrown off the bench. This is a case in the Supreme Court on a constitutional motion that is really all about the procedure that the Belize Advisory Council used to get him off the bench. So what’s being argued are procedural matters, not the substance of what he did and didn’t do.
But to answer your question, the testimony and evidence given before the Belize Advisory Council, aside from implicating Meerabux in acts of misbehaviour, we all know that generally it takes two to tango and virtually all of the allegations against Meerabux, have to do with collusion and things he conspired to do with people who are before the court or potentially before the court. As to what might happen to these people, there are a number of possibilities. If they were lawyers, the Bar Association could certainly look into discipline, including disbarment. If someone was a government employee, like the former Solicitor General, there are things that could be done to him as well. But those are separate from this trial, but I think that people need to keep in mind that some very serious issues have been raised.”
Ava Lovell
“What role did the various governments play in this scenario?
Stewart Krohn
“That’s an even more interesting question. It is, and I’m speaking outside of anything discussed at the trial today, it is no secret, particularly in the case of Mr. Ghandi, Mr. Ghandi was employed by both the PUP and UDP governments as Solicitor General. They relied on him, both governments knew that he did things that may not have been one hundred percent kosher, yet they not only tolerated his actions, but some might say they encouraged him in his actions and they are certainly as responsible as he is perhaps. It’s interesting, because today while out on another story, Janelle Chanona caught up with Prime Minister Said Musa and asked him specifically that question, about what role Mr. Ghandi played, if they’ll role that tape.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
” It is a fact that we knew it even when we came into office, that Mr. Ghandi in his zeal to serve his then master, the UDP government, had done certain things rather inappropriately in our view, such as assisting, we are told, the said judge with writing a judgement and that sort of thing, in trying to carry out the wish of the said administration, against me. But quite frankly, I look at it with a bit of bemusement, a bit of humour. I don’t really hold it against Mr. Ghandi because he was simply carrying out instructions. And the fact of the matter is he is a professional, he’s a very hard worker and I’m prepared to leave it at that.”
Janelle Chanona
“So his loyalty lies with who is paying the checks?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I would say so. His loyalty lies with the government of the day, that employs him.”
Stewart Krohn
“So Ava, I won’t say anymore, but suffice to say for now, this case is really in the political sense, about much more than just former Justice Meerabux. I think a lot of people are going to need to look deep inside themselves and the institutions of government before this thing gets straightened out.”
Ava Lovell
“Thanks a lot Stewart.”
