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CJ quashes order to have Haitians deported
– says AG application of withdrawal has no merit
Attorney-at-law, Darren Wade.
Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall.
Kaieteur News – The Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire, yesterday quashed the deportation order that was granted by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus last month to have a group of Haitian nationals deported.
The Chief Justice also dismissed the application made by the Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall, to have the matter withdrawn, stating that it has no merit.
The Haitians were being detained by Government. On December 1, 2020, Principal Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus granted an order for the 26 Haitians to be deported although they were not officially charged or placed before the court.
As such, attorney-at-law, Darren Wade, filed an application in the High Court to have the deportation order quashed.
Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire.
During the ruling yesterday afternoon, the acting Chief Justice ruled that there was a breach of natural justice in the issuance of the deportation order while making reference to Section 16 and 28 of the Immigration Act. She stated that the Haitians should have been taken before the court before such order is granted and as such she quashed the deportation order.
The acting Chief Justice also ruled that there was a breach of the Haitians’ freedom when the order was granted. She referenced Article 139 – the protection of right to personal liberty and Article 148 – protection of freedom of movement.
She added that the other orders including the referral to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and for damages are not granted, adding that since the Haitians were already released from custody she made no order of cost.
Before handing down that ruling, the acting Chief Justice dismissed the AG’s application to have the matter withdrawn.
Earlier this month a Notice of Application (NOA) was filed in the High Court after damning allegations were raised against attorney-at-law, Wade, for filing an application for Allandres Archer. Archer stated that his name was used on the application on behalf of the 26 Haitians without his permission.
Archer had joined forces with the AG to have the matter struck out.
However, the acting Chief Justice yesterday said that the AG’s application is strange since she has never seen an application where the respondent [AG] of a matter would file an application for the applicant [Archer].
The AG then sought to bring clarity by stating that his application was not made on behalf of the applicant but that it is an application made by the respondent to strike out the application.
The acting Chief Justice said she read the application and listened to the recording with the applicant saying that he signed a number of documents and that he was tricked into signing those documents.
She added that the applicant joined a previous hearing of the matter so it is not that he is not aware of the court proceeding. As such, the acting Chief Justice ruled that the AG’s application has no merit, since, if the applicant wanted to, he could have withdrawn the matter on the grounds that were highlighted in the NOA.
She then added that the applicant should have contacted attorney-at-law Wade, to have the matter withdrawn. Wade then told the court that the applicant did not contact him and made any such request.
Kaieteur News had reported that the Haitians were detained during a police cordon and search exercises carried out in November 2020. The Haitians were discovered between November 7 and November 8, 2020, at a city hotel in a minibus. They were reportedly headed to the Linden-Mabura Road.
The Haitians were arrested and placed in protective custody at the Hugo Chávez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration pending deportation. However, they were later released and vanished without any trace.
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