AG was not contemptuous; no apology necessary

AG was not contemptuous; no apology necessary – Granger

May 18, 2017 News

President David Granger believes that there is no ground justifying the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams apologising for statements made in the court of Justice Franklin Holder.
The President was asked yesterday whether he would ask the Attorney General to apologise to Justice Holder for his outburst; a request which was made by the judge.
To this, Granger said that Williams had explained what occurred in the court, and if Justice Holder felt that Williams’ behaviour was in contempt of court, he should have charged the AG for committing the offence.
“He did not cite the Attorney General for contempt and as things stand, I feel that the explanation given to me by the Minister of Legal Affairs adequately deals with the complaint which I received.”
Justice Holder had written a letter to the Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards detailing the incident which occurred a few weeks ago. That correspondence was forwarded to President Granger for his information.
Granger said that under the circumstances of the matter he could not say that something was done which warranted Williams being cited for contempt of court.
“That is the important thing. His behaviour was not contemptuous; so in that regard there cannot be any justifiable call for an apology because his behaviour was not in contempt of court.”
Moreover, the issue appears to be a dead one as the Chancellor said yesterday that the matter has already been dealt with between the AG and Justice Holder. These comments were made yesterday at State House following the swearing-in of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire and Justice Dawn Gregory as Justices of the Court of Appeal.
Justice Holder had described the AG’s behaviour in his court as disrespectful. The incident had occurred during court proceedings when the confidential secretary of Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Carvil Duncan was questioned regarding notification of the Prime Minister, towards the establishment of the tribunal to address the matter relating to his removal from the constitutional office.

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