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HOME	FEBRUARY 19th, 2005

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Proposals from the State for the conditional appointment of controversial Jamaican lawyer Hugh Wildman as the country's next attorney-general.

The lawyers are into the third week of a boycott of all local courts to protest the impending appointment of Wildman to the top judicial post on account of his behaviour and demeanour over the years.

Informed sources told GRENADA TODAY that President of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA), Ruggles Ferguson is presently briefing lawyers on communication received from official quarters on the Wildman issue. This newspaper was told that Governor-General, Sir Daniel Williams informed Ferguson on Monday that he was offering a compromise for Wildman to be given a nine-month probation and not the customary 2-year contract.

During the meeting at Sir Daniel's private home at Westerhall, St. David's, the Governor-General suggested to Ferguson that the GBA members call off their ongoing protest and return the courts to their regular functioning.

Sources told our News Desk that the Governor General indicated that Wildman will be appointed for approximately nine months but no more than two years with a strict provision in his contract that if he conducts himself inappropriately the contract will be automatically terminated. The quick reaction of some lawyers contacted by this newspaper is that if they were to accept the proposal it will be unconstitutional and that the Bar is not willing to compromise.

The GBA met on Tuesday and agreed to continue with their protest action and to flatly reject the Governor General's proposals. According to some senior lawyers, if the bar was to agree to the offer and Wildman signed his contract under the conditions outlined then one year later he can behave as he likes and nothing could be done since he can claim that he signed the contract under duress due to pressure from the Bar.

This proposal for a nine month contract for Wildman was reportedly restated to Ferguson on Wednesday by the Keith Mitchell-led government which deliberated upon the issue at Monday's weekly Cabinet sitting. The lawyers had initially met with Sir Daniel on February 1 to ask him to intervene and stop the appointment and on February 8 with Legal Affairs Minister Elvin Nimrod.

The senior government minister assured the lawyers that he would take their concerns to Cabinet. A source close to the lawyers said that they are not prepared to accept the proposal on the grounds that Wildman is just not fit for the post. Wildman is not fit and he is just not fit", said a lawyer close to the talks.

He stressed that the battle lines have now been drawn between the lawyers and government "and they can expect us to come out vigorously because we are not willing to compromise". "They (government) should prepare themselves for all sorts of things", he added.

A three member GBA delegation headed by President Ferguson is expected to travel to St. Lucia tomorrow (Thursday) to share their concerns on the Wildman issue with the Chief Justice of the OECS Supreme Court, Adrian Saunders and members of the St. Lucia Bar.
Ferguson will be accompanied by two former Presidents of the Bar, Anslem Clouden and Reynold Benjamin.

The delegation is due to represent Grenada at a special sitting of the OECS Court to mark the departure of the current Chief Justice, who is expected to take up an appointment at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) later this year. When contacted for comment, Ferguson said that the delegation will be travelling with a few of the dossiers on the behaviour of Wildman in order to make them available to the members of the OECS Court of Appeal and the Bar in St. Lucia.

"We hope to shed some light on the matter with our regional colleagues and to properly inform them as to the grounds for staging the protest", he added. The militant trade union movement has already pledged its support for the lawyers in their battle with the Mitchell government on the Wildman appointment.