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by pltm
(PLTM) - Justice Ann Marie Smith’s ruling on the application made by Mark Vanterpool for the court to declare that he did not vacate his seat in the House of Assembly (HoA), has been postponed to May 2.
At the conclusion of the hearing on April 13, the judge had indicated that she would be ready to hand down her ruling today, April 18.
However, in Court today, she related that she is not ready, telling the parties that in predicting a ruling for today, “I was getting ahead of myself.”
Breach Of Confidence
Meanwhile, Attorney General, Hon. Baba Aziz today voiced his discontent with what he indicated was a breach of the privilege of confidence.
Hon. Aziz explained that Hon. Julian Willock’s submissions to the court contained the advice that he had given to the Governor on the issue of the validity Mr. Vanterpool’s resignation and his views that a by-election is not warranted.
The letter with this advice, he explained, was copied to Speaker, Hon. Willock, and he later disclosed that it was included in Willock’s bundle submitted to the court.
Such documents, he posited, have the privilege of confidence and should not be disclosed to the court.
Meanwhile, former Senior Counsel Valston Graham—who is also representing Willock in this matter—responded saying that while he appreciates the AG’s position on the issue of confidentiality, it must be viewed in proper context.
His position is that Mr. Vanterpool’s argument heavily relies on the advice given by the AG, and it would not be proper for the court to rely on advice that it has not seen.
However, Vanterpool’s Attorney Patrick Thompson refuted this claim, saying that they never saw the advice that was given to the Governor. He said that they relied on the position of the AG that was expressed in court, when Hon. Aziz made his submissions.
Nevertheless, the Judge indicated that she would not be relying on the advice that was given to the Governor, and would only be taking the submissions that were made in court into consideration.
