The Hon. Abduial Conteh (left) is pictured being sworn in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal by Governor-General Sir Arthur Foulkes on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010, in the drawing room at Government House.
The Hon. Abduial Conteh (left) is pictured being sworn in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal by Governor-General Sir Arthur Foulkes on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010, in the drawing room at Government House.
Article Written by: Mrs. Tanya Cash
Email: tanya_cash@hotmail.com
7th December, 2010
Please allow me to express my very serious concerns and opinions in your wonderful forum.
Judges Of The Bahamas Courts Being Illegally
Appointed!
Judges of The Bahamas are being Illegally Appointed, to our Courts, despite former Supreme Court Justice John Lyons’ Ruling of A.D., 2006, that The Executive of The Bahamas, ‘Broke the Law’, by not Appointing a Commission (Independent), in 2003, and 2006, to review ‘The Remuneration of Judges’ Salaries, and Pensions Act’ which makes the Judiciary of The Bahamas beholden to the executive, and therefore, making the Judiciary of The Bahamas unconstitutional, not independent and not impartial.
And that Cabinet has plunged the Nation, into a ‘Constitutional Crisis’.
Justice Lyons Further Ruled That:
1)If my arguments hold, all the judges now are no
longer independent, they cannot, as things
presently stand, fulfill their Constitutional Oath
and deliver a fair trial by an Independent
Tribunal.
2)If the Judge (and collectively the Judiciary) is no
longer independent, then they cannot as things
presently stand, fulfill their Constitutional oath
and deliver a fair trial by an independent
tribunal.
3)…And that any Trials heard by any Judge then must
fail, as unconstitutional.
4) That remains so until the judge (and collectively
the Judiciary) is restored to Independence…….by an
Amendment to The Constitution. That amendment must
be in terms that they constitutionally give back
the right removed.
5) That by hearing a trial, the integrity of the
process (not to mention the trial judge), would be
in shreds. That this would reflect, as it must, on
the integrity of the whole Judiciary.
6) The independence of the Judiciary is protected by
the constitution, but that the Judiciary has been
stripped of its independence, because the
executive broke the law, and this very serious
problem which can only be corrected by ‘A
Constitutional Amendment’ (that a referendum would
have to be called by the executive), and not by
legislation, nor by The Judiciary.
When Justice Lyons made this very shocking ruling, he adjourned that matter, shut down his Court room, refused to hear any other matter, and returned to Nassau until the Executive, corrected this very serious problem.
The Executive Has Yet To Call A Referendum
To date, however, four (4) years later, the government/executive of The Bahamas, continues to disobey Justice Lyons’ Ruling, and has yet to correct this very serious problem, by calling a Referendum to amend The Constitution of The Bahamas, as it relates to our Judiciary.
Yet Our Courts Are Still Operating
Despite Justice Lyons’ Ruling:
a) Our Courts are still operating, as if all is well.
b) Judges are still being appointed, to both The
Supreme Court, and The Court of Appeal.
c) Governor General, Sir Arthur Foulkes, is still
swearing in these individuals, as judges.
Yes, our Governor General, who, before becoming Governor General, also agreed with Justice Lyons’ ruling, while harshly, but rightly criticizing the former Administration (PLP).
Please see: The Bahamas Pundit on
‘Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law in the Bahamas’
By Sir Arthur Foulkes
Please also see: The Bahamas Blog International
On Justice John Lyons Ruling:
FNM said…the negligence of the Christie Administration has precipitated a “national crisis”
Please also see The Bahamas Blog International:
‘Supreme Court Justice John Lyons Accused The Bahamas Government of ignoring and breaking the law’.
The Attorney General Appealed Lyons’ Ruling, but
later Withdrew The Appeal
The Executive, and the Attorney General at that time strongly disagreed with Justice Lyons’ ruling and with some even stating that Lyons’ ruling was only about money.
No! Lyons ruling was mainly about the rule of law.
The Attorney General subsequently appealed Justice Lyons’ ruling to The Court of Appeal.
However, on the day for the hearing of the Appeal,in The Court of Appeal, the Attorney General’s Office, shockingly, withdrew its Appeal.
The question then is, if The Attorney General disagreed with Justice Lyons’ Ruling, why then did The Attorney General withdraw the Appeal, and with no known cause to the public?
Full details as to the reasons for the withdrawal of the AG’s Appeal, however, has yet to be disclosed, nor published on the Court of Appeal’s Website.
Cases To Be Greatly Affected By Justice Lyons’ Ruling
There should be very grave concerns, due to Justice Lyons’ Ruling, as cases heard in the Courts of The Bahamas since A.D. 2003, would be greatly affected, and could even be overturned, on Appeal.
The Following, are some cases heard in The Courts of The Bahamas, that would be greatly affected, by Justice Lyons’ Ruling:
1. Cases Heard in The Magistrate’s Courts
2. Cases Heard in The Supreme Court
3. Cases heard in The Court of Appeal
4. Criminal Cases, including Murder Trials, Rape
Matters, Robbery Trials etc…
5. Civil Cases, including matters against The
Government of The Bahamas.
6. Cases Heard in Grand Bahama
7. Union Matters.
8.The Grand Bahama Port Authority Court Matter.
9. The Election Court Trials.
10. The Elizabeth Court Trial
11. The Arawak Homes Property Matter, As It Relates
To The Dispute of The Real Property Owners.
Some of these cases also include International
Matters, like:
1) The Anna Nicole Trial
2) The John Travolta Trial
3) The Matter Of The Barefoot Bandit
4) The Attempted Murder and Armed Robbery Trial
of New Jersey Cop
5) The Matter of The American Man, Beating Our
Police Officers, On Bay Street
6) The Victor Kozeny Trial
7) And So Many Other Matters
Why Certain Court Decisions Were Made In
International Cases
You ever wonder why certain decisions are made, even as it relates to International Matters?
Yes, to keep the International Spotlight, the International Media, from shining brightly on The Bahamas Judiciary!
Wake Up, Bahamas!
Before we are the ones who have to face and suffer the consequences for the actions of our Leaders!
Please See: The Bahamas, The Next Turks AND Caicos’, on Bahamas Issues and Bahamas Press, or on my face book @ TanyapreciousangelofGodCash.
Wake Up, Before It Is Too Late!!
Mrs. Tanya Cash(A Very Concerned Citizen, House-
Wife, and Mother)
Ignorance (intellectual or otherwise) is a sign of a weak and under-developed, uneducated being. If Bahamian’s (not your sort that is) were not satisfied about his credentials he wouldn’t have been there. Also, let’s not forget – from African roots we all hailed. Bob Barley said “as long as you are a black man, you’re an African”. Whether he is Bahamian or Sierra Leonean (In West Africa, which is where he is originally from); what SHOULD be the principle thing is that he is fair and just.
Now we wonder why ‘the white man’ talks us down – we still aren’t united as a race of black people. However I shall not make such general statements as those who already are casting the first stone are the ignoramus’ of Bahamas.
As Bob Marley once said in his song: ‘One love’
One Love! One Heart!
Let’s get together and feel all right.
Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love!);
There is one question I’d really love to ask (One Heart!):
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?
Let’s get together to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (One Love!),
So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One Song!).
Have pity on those whose chances grows t’inner;
There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of Creation. One Love! One Heart!
Let’s get together and feel all right.
Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love!);
There is one question I’d really love to ask (One Heart!):
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?
Your concerns are valid but do the research before exposing low intelligence for the world to read.
wow how nice to bring African judge those people who electing these judges lost their mind, we all going to see what happen it time Bahamian people stand for their right and stop allow any and everything work
Good or not I’m sceptical that we may have gotten another reject…his contract in Belize was not renewed after he turned 65 this year (although they had an option to renew) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulai_Conteh and he was denied political asylum in the UK some time back because he was seen as corrupt http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/african-politician-seeking-asylum-seen-as-corrupt-1532023.html. I really think we should have a similar process to the US for scrutinizing judges before they are appointed.
I believe our constitution speaks about freedom of worship; it is my view,or I was led to believe we are a Christian nation,or is it clear evidence now: we are a religious nation? Thanks ivasson.
So if someone were to burn the koran, would he judge them to death?
he sure looks well over 65 to me! former deceased judges would roll over in their graves. Yes, What a Country!!!
Conteh is the former Chief Justice of Belize for many years. I’ve read some of his judgments and they are of the highest quality. The Court could not have a more qualified Justice of Appeal
buddy the only judgments we need here is to judge all the murderers to hang hang hang! If that is the quality of his judgments then he is welcomed with open arms.
Thank Cash for the information. That is not the point. The point is, why should you have to disclose that to me? Why, when appointing Judges in The Bahamas, is there not a “paper” or press release giving us the background of these persons? Why do you have to go on the Internet to find significant rulings? He may be a very good judge; time will tell. The point is that we need INFORMATION for us to process and make up our own minds. That is all. We don’t trust the judgment of our public officials. We don’t have confidence that the government of today have the best interest of BAHAMIANS at heart. So when they do things, we are always suspicious of an ulterior motive when it comes to them. That’s the point. Another point is, why is he swearing on the Quran? Does our laws provide the swearing on the Quran or do we use the Bible because of the preamble in our constitution?
Have anyone notice that man is being sworn in while holding the Quran? Are promoting a more diverse culture in the Bahamas again?
The name Conteh suggests possibly freetown south africa? If so, why are we importing justices from such countries that have even worse corruption and crime than we do??
Read your geography. Freetown is the capital of Sierra Leone, not of South Africa. Dr Conteh is a very highly qualified lawyer and has executed various other internatiuonal positions to the highest standard and, I might add, to the satisfaction of the international comunity at large. Just because he is from Sierra Leone does not mean he is incapable to executing the function of the high office of the court of appeal. Give the man a chance and you will not be disappointed.
Who is he? What is his background? Where is he from? Where did he go to school? What are his significant rulings? Is he from a Communist Country? Is the quality of his legal training sufficient for this jurisdiction with a strong Offshore Banking element? Is there a way the public can be informed on who is appointed judges and on what grounds? Although we have a Judicial Committee of sorts (which is heavily influenced by the government of the day), I think the Committee should disclose and justify their decision to the public. We have seen how the Committee has chosen a person (Cheryl Grant) and the Prime Minister went against it and appointed who he wanted to the position of Director of Public Prosecutions. Does the Committee really have any power??
What a country!!!!
Comments are closed.