Latest update April 7th, 2025 6:08 AM
Royston King appeals High Court ruling on de facto Town Clerk
While a writ of quo warranto is expected to be filed today; demanding that Carol Sooba show authority for her appointment to the post of Town Clerk (Ag), Royston King through his attorney, has filed legal documents challenging certain aspects of Chief Justice Ian Chang’s High Court ruling.
The document which was filed at the Court of Appeal yesterday is asking that the decision by Chief Justice Chang to allow Sooba to function as the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s de facto Town Clerk, “be varied or amended.”
Mr. Royston King
The appeal is also seeking to have it confirmed (made absolute) that when the applicants applied for the post of Town Clerk based on the criteria established by the Local Government Ministry, they had a legitimate expectation.
King, who is City Hall’s Public Relations Officer, along with Sooba and two other persons, had applied for the post of Town Clerk when the Local Government Ministry had advertised for a suitable candidate, setting up an interview panel to make recommendations based on the criteria.
Against the recommendations of the interview panel, Sooba was appointed Town Clerk by the Minister, forcing King to take legal action against the Local Government Ministry.
At the conclusion of the court matter the CJ found that according to the law, former Minister Ganga Persaud had no authority to appoint any Local Government officer earning above a certain salary and the Town Clerk position fell within that bracket.
The CJ also found that while there was a legitimate expectation that a suitable applicant would have been hired for the post, he reasoned that the Minister did not have to submit to the recommendations of the panel since he had appointed them to make recommendations and he had not bestowed authority on them.
The CJ added that Sooba could remain in the Town Clerk position as a de facto officer since the hiring body the Local Government Commission was not in place, that her position is de facto (not legally bound) and that a writ of quo warranto was necessary to directly challenge her office.
However, King is dissatisfied with the CJ’s ruling which speaks to Sooba remaining a de facto Town Clerk, when he (CJ) quashed her appointment on the grounds that the Minister had no power to appoint her.
The appeal says that Chang erred in law when he found that the Court was being asked to substitute its decision for that of the Minister, and that the Minister was being asked to surrender his statutory decision making powers to the interview panel.
The document continued that Chang erred when he failed to find that King had a legitimate expectation to be considered on the criteria established by the Minister. It was opined that Chang misdirected himself when he found that the Minister could have used criteria other than that which was made relevant to the applicants, and that the Minister could have also taken into account other criteria against the applicants’ knowledge.
Attorney Nigel Hughes filed the document.
In the meantime, Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall has already filed legal documents, also challenging the CJ’s ruling but in its entirety.
The AG is appealing on the grounds that the CJ made a judgment “against the weight of the evidence before him.” The Appeal Court is being asked to set aside the order made by the CJ to have the Local Government Minister explain Sooba’s appointment.
de facto Town Clerk Carol Sooba
He said that Chang erred and misguided himself when he ruled that the Minister had no power to appoint Sooba as Town Clerk under the Municipal and District Councils Act Chapter 28:01. He said the ruling was “misconceived and wrong in law” when he found that Section 95 of the Municipal and District Councils Act, – which speaks to the convening of a Local Government Service Commission, -came into operation in the absence of any evidence of that being done, and in the face of evidence which tend to establish that the Commission was never convened.
However, the quo warranto which is expected to be filed today is a direct legal call on the Town Clerk. It is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right or power (or “franchise”) they claim to hold.
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