President of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA), Ruggles Ferguson has described a meeting that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell had recently with Chief Magistrate Patricia Mark as being very unethical.
Mark was summoned to the Office of the Prime Minister at the Botanical Gardens in St. George's where she met with Dr. Mitchell, who invited her to a meeting without disclosing the nature of the agenda.
According to informed sources, the meeting was dominated by utterances from the Prime Minister about the timing of the female magistrate to demit the Bench.
Dr. Mitchell has admitted that he held a "private" meeting with the Chief Magistrate but declined to give details of the discussions.
Ferguson told reporters that the 7:30 a.m. meeting Dr. Mitchell held with Magistrate mark is a matter of concern to the Bar.
"It goes to the issue of the independence of the judiciary. Magistrates are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission", he said.
"It is our understanding, from very reliable sources, and indeed it has been reported in the media that the Prime Minister summoned the Chief Magistrate sometime recently to advise her that she should depart the Bench to allow for another person to be appointed (as Chief Magistrate)," he added.
The sitting Magistrate in Grenville, Jerry Seales is tipped to replace Mark as Chief Magistrate.
Ferguson said it is inappropriate and improper for a Prime Minister to summon a magistrate on any issue.
The GBA President indicated that Dr. Mitchell is a witness in a case before Mark that was due to be heard just around the time that she was called to the Prime Minister's Office.
Dr. Mitchell is currently on the witness stand as the complainant in a criminal libel matter brought against the editor of the GRENADA TODAY, George Worme.
However, Dr. Mitchell has consistently failed to attend any sitting of the court in the past four years.
Ferguson labelled the development as "an invasion" and well as an "incursion into the independence of judiciary" to have a Prime Minister or Member of Cabinet to deal with matters concerning the judiciary and judicial officers.
"That is why we have been calling for a regularisation of the position of Magistrates to allow for the Magistrates to fall squarely under the control of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission," he told reporters.
Ferguson said the GBA will be monitoring the developments surrounding the Chief Magistrate as they unfold.
Over they years P.M Mitchell has consistently been accused of trying to control the judiciary in order to get judges to rule in favour of his administration.
