There is the famous line “the law is an ass” which has been attributed to many through time. What it means is that sometimes when the law is applied, it achieves an absurd result.
Today the Barbados High Court issued the following order as summarised by Barbados Today:
The High Court has quashed a magistrate’s decision to commit former CLICO chairman Leroy Parris to stand trial on charges stemming from the alleged theft of $3.3 million from the insurance company.
Justice Michelle Weekes also prohibited the Director of Public Prosecutions from proceeding with the matter.
Parris’ attorney, King’s Counsel Hal Gollop, welcomed the ruling, saying his client felt vindicated.
However, King’s Counsel Roger Forde, appearing for the State, confirmed that an appeal will be filed, saying that “at some point in time, Mr Parris will face the jury”.
A scan of the BU Archives and the wider public record shows one thing clearly: Barbadians remain baffled at how the former CLICO Holdings CEO Leroy Parris has escaped accountability after having a $3.3 million cheque issued to himself by his sidekick, former CLICO Financial Controller Terrence Thornhill. That such a blatant and desperate act by Parris – bailing from a failing insurance company – could slide past the justice system without consequence will continue deflate public confidence in the legal system..
For those with short memories of which Barbadians are known – about 11,000 policyholders in Barbados were affected by the collapse of CLICO, and the government eventually took a hit of $400 million i.e. taxpayers. Despite the taxpayers having to underwrite CLICO’s mess, Parris’ lawyer was emboldened to express – post verdict today – that Parris deserved the $3.3 million payment at a time the company was experiencing financial difficulties.
In a forensic audit Accounting House Deloitte’s stated that the “$3.3 million cheque issued to Leroy Parris was not supported by any legitimate documentation, not authorised under CLICO’s policies, and could not be justified as a lawful payment“. Barbados is a nation of laws and we must live in hope that justice will be served. The country will await the appeal process. In the meantime Leroy Parris continues with his life in his octogenarian years. While his other sidekick the late Prime Minister David Thompson looks up at the shenanigans.
What unfolded in the High Court today is more than a legal transaction – it is a stress test of Barbados’ credibility as a modern justice system. When a transaction that auditors deemed wrong can be trumped by legal poppycock, it exposes something deeper: the widening gap between what the public understands as justice and what the court delivered as law. A gap where distrust will continue to fester.
The appeal now becomes more than a legal formality. Barbados cannot afford a justice system that appears selective in its decisions. The country’s integrity depends on whether the next stage of this case restores faith or confirms there in one law for the Meades and another for the Persians.
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