Justice Davidson Baptist

Speculation is rife that high court judge, Justice Davidson Baptiste is being pulled out of Grenada following complaints levelled against him to his superiors by the ruling New National Party (NNP) government of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.

Well-placed legal sources told GRENADA TODAY that the administration in St. George's has officially written to the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLCS) to complain that the judge is bias against the government.

According to a legal source, the NNP's letter made mention of an incident in which Justice Baptiste who is from Dominica decided to recluse himself from a matter involving government's Legal Advisor, Hugh Wildman of Jamaica.

About two months ago, the judge in open court decided to withdraw himself from a case involving Wildman who had publicly accused him a few days earlier of being bias against him in a judgement. The stand-off between Justice Baptiste and Wildman was said to be high on the agenda of a meeting which Prime Minister Mitchell held a few weeks ago with Acting Chief Justice of the OECS Court, Brian Alleyne.

This newspaper visited the Judge's Chambers on Tuesday but Justice Baptiste was not seen on the compound. Legal sources said that the high court judge who has only been in the country for a matter of months is expected to be back on the bench by Thursday to deliver a judgement in a matter involving barrister-at-law, Anslem Clouden.

It is not clear which OECS State that Justice Baptiste might be transferred to in light of the complaint made against him by the Mitchell government. The outspoken Clouden has lashed out at the NNP regime for trying to interfere in the running of the local judiciary by moving against the high court judge.

"What we are witnessing in the judiciary of the OECS is an unprecedented level of political interference with the due administration of Justice", he said. Clouden chided the NNP regime for attacking Justice Baptiste because for merely "rendering judgements that are not supportive or in conformity with the government's position".

It is rather unfortunate, he said that judges have to face up to these kinds of personal attacks and criticisms from "politicians and their advisors". In the case of Justice Baptiste, Clouden said the onslaught against him came directly from Wildman who accused the judge of being bias in a ruling against him.

Wildman sought to question the legal integrity of the judge by accusing him of ruling against him merely because the President of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA), Ruggles Ferguson had took up his plight of failing to get his monthly salaries on time from government.

Justice Baptiste is known to have refused to sit in light of consistent non-payment of his salaries and the matter affecting a high profile case involving a few visiting regional Queens Counsels According to Clouden, the attack by Wildman on Justice Baptiste is rather unprecedented in this jurisdiction.

He said that Wildman created "what in legal circles can best be described as legal heresy by accusing a sitting judge of being bias".
Clouden charged the Mitchell government with showing early signs and warnings after coming into office in mid-1995 of being bent on trying to control the judiciary.

He recalled the hammering which then high court judge, and current Acting Chief Justice Brian Alleyne of Dominica received after ruling against the State in the 20 million E.C dollar Dipcon judgement. He said that legal action was taken against Alleyne by Wildman himself who was then an officer of the government.

Clouden made mention of the comments of the Law Lords in England against Wildman and the NNP regime on the Dipcon matter. He said the records will show that the Privy Council rebuked the authorities in Grenada for playing "loose and fast" with the operations of the local courts and the procedures which govern them.

Clouden also likened the NNP's attack on the judiciary in Grenada to that of the Robert Mugabe dictatorship in Zimbabwe on the court system in that African State. He said the Chief Justice in the Black African republic could no longer stomach "the repeated incursions" by the government on the independence of the judiciary" and "resigned and fled to London for safety".

"If we are to have confidence in the ability of our judges and even the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice), we must be assured by the politicians that they would not resort to tampering and clandestinely interfering with the due administration of justice. Clouden urges the political directorate in the region to refrain from trying to hold "the sword of Damocles" over the appointment of judicial officers such as the Chief justice and the President of the CCJ.

This is very important, he said since politicians "are not eminently qualified" and judicially equipped" to make such appointments of a judicial nature. Clouden said the apparent early departure of Justice Baptiste from Grenada "is a striking example of political manipulation and interference in the judiciary by the Grenada government.