Eight months after being sacked by the now deposed New National Party (NNP) government of Keith Mitchell, senior Magistrate Henry Paryag has been appointed to sit once more on the bench as Acting Chief Magistrate.
Paryag's re-appointment took effect on Tuesday as Chief Magistrate at the St George's #1 Magistrate's court replacing attorney-at-law, Jerry Seales who resigned and have since proceeded on three months no pay leave.
On Monday all matters at the Court were adjourned since there was no sitting magistrate.
Speaking to GRENADA TODAY last week Thursday, Paryag confirmed that although talks were held between himself and newly appointed Attorney General, James Bristol on the appointment, he
was not presented with the official instruments for the position to sit on Monday.
According to the legal official who has been practicisng at GRELAW Chambers alongside fellow barristers, Anslem Clouden and Dr. Francis Alexis, he has no intention of staying on the job on a long-term basis.
Paryag was removed from the bench on very short notice during the reign of the NNP government through a letter issued to him by Governor General, Sir Daniel Williams, acting on advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC).
His dismissal was heavily criticised by the Grenada Bar Association (GBA) which saw the move as yet another attack on the local judiciary by the Mitchell regime.
What was vexing to both Paryag and GBA was that the sitting Magistrate had received a letter from Attorney General, Elvin Nimrod, approximately six months before his official dismissal informing him that he would advise JLSC not to renew his contract when it ended.
Paryag responded to the letter seeking reasons for his dismissal but was told that no reason needed to be given to him for his sacking.
The bar also expressed concerns that the move was taking place at a time when no replacement was named to take up the position leaving dozens of court cases to be adjourned for weeks.
In addition, some of the matters had already been started by the sacked Magistrate and that decisions were expected on others that had already been heard
Prior to the July 8 general elections, the Mitchell regime fired its final salvo at the local judiciary when it made a bold move to remove Chief Magistrate Patricia Mark from the bench on the grounds that she had already attained the mandatory age of retirement.
The female Magistrate retained the services of constitutional lawyer, and former Attorney-General, Dr Francis Alexis who sued the State for wrongfully using the Office of the Governor-General to try and remove her from office instead of JLSC which is responsible for hiring and firing such high-ranking judicial officers.
Speculation is rife that Dr. Mitchell sought to remove Mark from the bench for allegedly failing to carry out his desire in a criminal libel matter he brought against the Editor of the GRENADA TODAY newspaper, George Worme.
Mitchell reportedly wanted the Chief Magistrate to bring an end to his cross examination by local attorney Anslem Clouden and to send the matter up to the high court for trial before a judge and jury.
