Submitted by Mark Jones
Justice Cornelius (l) next to BLP candidate and husband Ralph Thorne (r)
IF YOU WANT JUSTICE STAY OUT OF WHITEPARK ROAD. WHEN WIVES WHO ARE JUDGES GIVE DECISIONS TO ENHANCE HER HUSBAND’S POLITICAL CHANCES OF WINNING.THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS IN DIRE NEED OF AN OVERHAUL.
The talk around town this week was about the double whammy the Government got in the same day with two important decision going against them.
The Government lost the Hyatt case against Comissiong and they lost the case with the BIDC. The Bees in the bar were gloating about the licks Hal Gollop and Michael Yearwood got in the two cases but a man in the crowd thought the whole thing was very suspicious to him. He thought it was a STRANGE COINCIDENCE that the two cases could be decided on the same afternoon one after the other. He said he was waiting to get his hand on the BIDC decision but he had seen a copy of a decision his friend had in the Hyatt case and could not understand how the judge Dr Sonia Richards could arrive at the decision she gave; all the reasoning pointed to the fact that she should have ruled against Commisiong being allowed to contest the case but she held otherwise. He also said that it was clear to him from the manner in which the judgment criticises itself that at least two different persons wrote the decision.
The other case was before Cornelius, the wife of BLP Politician and Candidate Ralph Thorne!
My man said it appeared to him that the two judges had some agenda other than law and he felt that politics had now raised its head among the judiciary. It is known that Gollop and Yearwood are two Dems lawyers and they had to put the two of them in their place! The man continued that it is now a sad thing for Barbados that people are losing faith in the judiciary. If the judiciary is now engaging in corrupt practices and lawyers are being targeted where will this all end?
Also a very serious and pointed concern has been raised by a senior QC from the region who has also questioned why judge Cornelius did not recluse herself from this very political fuelled case such as this BIDC case being the wife of a BLP Candidate Ralph Thorne?
And it is also being asked why the judge Richards did not recuse herself since she is a known active Methodist!
Relevant Links:
The online paper said Gollop immediately informed that he was appealing the decision but it was noticeable that he did not speak to the press. On the other hand Comissiong was holding forth. The other matter raised was how he could suddenly be questioning every decision the Government takes. The feeling is that can only happen because there is a number of anti government judges sitting in the bench. It is not known if Yearwood will also be appealing his decision but whatever happens these two decisions have raised eyebrows among the public and likely to create serious doubts about the ability of judges on the bench to give a fair decision on the law before them and not which party the person involve support.
The public must be confident that when they go to court that they will be treated fairly but this now seems very suspect!
