2019-11-03 Although Massa Day Done shares a great deal of information about the history of the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, it was not the driving force in producing the book. My motivation was to bring to light some of the issues that arose from the republican constitution of 1976. As it turned out, I had to give some historical information of the constitution which emerged as a brief history. But this added a positive twist to the book as…..
The President’s recent decree concerning Government ministers and members of the diplomatic corps ought not to be interpreted as an attempt to impose her morality on the citizenry.The President plays a unique role,as required by the constitution, in the appointment of Government ministers and in the accredition of foreign diplomats. These functions tend to be dismissed as ceremonial despite the fact that they have very serious legal consequences. It is not difficult to imagine the embarrassment that could arise if…..
The EBC Judgment – A Postscript The decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the UNC’s petition has settled the outcome of the 2015 elections. Unfortunately, the judgment has left open a can of worms and it will not surprise me if the aggrieved party now sues for damages in the Civil court. The judgment, that the EBC acted illegally, has left the door open to challenge their negligence or recklessness in the Civil Courts. Is it possible for the…..
On Idiots, Dictators and Juries Trial by jury is an ancient English systems of justice’ Its genesis may be traced to the Frankish kings; the system was introduced to England not long after the Norman conquest and has evolved and survived into the twenty-first century. Not so fortunate were the coeval trial by ordeal, trial by battle and trial by compurgation. Trial by ordeal was abolished by the Lateran Council in 1215, trial by battle was not abolished until 1819…..
A Constitutional Court? While he was arguing that Trinidad and Tobago ought to relinquish the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal, Mr Michael de la Bastide, then Chief Justice, pointed out that many of the decisions taken at the final court are more policy decisions rather than legal decisions. The argument made good sense, for it is far better for a sovereign nation to make policy decisions than to leave that responsibility to a…..
The recent judgment by Mr Justice Peter Rajkumar betrays the colonial mind-set that is hampering the proper understanding and functioning of the 1976 constitution. Although there can be no question as to the correctness of the judgment, its language reveals the mind-set that is hovering like a dark cloud over the heads of those that need to interpret the constitution. In passing judgment, the judge, in effect, noted that the constitution did not authorise members of the Cabinet to trigger…..
Welcome. My name is Lennie M. Nimblett, author of Massa Day Done. I’m so happy to have you as a visitor to my blog about my new book. This project is very special to me, and I hope to share some of that excitement with you here. I’ll be using this blog to interact with you about Massa Day Done, expanding on some of the topics in it and blogging on some of the ideas related to my book. This…..
Recent Posts
- BlogPost #7 – The Making of Massa Day Done
- BlogPost #6 The President on “Invited Guests”
- BlogPost #5
- BlogPost #4 On Idiots, Dictators and Juries
- BlogPost #3 …… THE EBC RULING – A DISSENTING VIEW ……. Most of the comments on the ruling by the Judge in the petition over the general election of 2015, seem to agree with the judge: in extending the voting hours of the election at a number of polling stations, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) was unlawful and acted illegally. I humbly beg to disagree. I think that there was nothing illegal about what the EBC did and that by any criterion in any court, what they did would pass the tests of reasonableness and fairness as was required.To begin with, the EBC is the executive authority for the conduct of elections; the authority is not the President, not the Parliament nor the Cabinet (sub-sections 11 and 12 of clause 70). The judge ruled that in extending the time for voting on the day of the elections, the EBC acted illegally although it would not have been illegal if rules issued before the election had indicated that in those circumstances the hours of voting would be extended. The circumstance that prompted the decision of the EBC was the high rainfall in those areas on the day of the elections. There may have arisen scores of other circumstances that could have caused delays: earthquakes, fires, oil spills, vehicular accidents, etc. It would have been appropriate, according to the judge, for the EBC to state in advance that in the event that one or more of those circumstances arising, that the voting hours would be extended. But it is unreasonable to expect the EBC to list all or to foresee all the circumstances under which the voting hours would be extended. In any event it would have been implicit in their executive authority to deal with such circumstances. Maitland in The Constitutional History of England, makes it clear that they, the EBC, have as prerogative the right to make such decisions. Friedrich in Tradition and Authority makes it clear that the test for the exercise such discretion. It appears to me that EBC acted reasonably and I, therefore, disagree with that part of the judgment……….2016-08-24