Thursday, 19th September 2024

"There was no court order allowing release of Dr Douglas nomination form info: Anthony

Supervisor of Elections Mr Elvin Bailey did not obtain a court order when he gave the completed 2015 Nomination Form of Leader of the Opposition, Dr Denzil Douglas to a private citizen.

Monday, 25th February 2019

Denzil Douglas.

Supervisor of Elections Mr Elvin Bailey did not obtain a court order when he gave the completed 2015 Nomination Form of Leader of the Opposition, the Rt Hon Dr Denzil Douglas to a private citizen.

"The nomination form which the National Assembly Elections Act specifically requires it to be held by the supervisor of elections and can only be disclosed by an order of the Court. There was no order of the Court made allowing for the release of that information to Cuthbert "Big Chief" Mills," disclosed Sylvester Anthony, one of Douglas' lawyers at a press

conference on the weekend.

Anthony confirmed that Dr Douglas, the Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher 6 (Newton Ground to Harris) will file a constitutional motion in the High Court against the government "for the breach of his privacy in releasing his passport information to Mr. Cuthbert Mills in the matter that was brought earlier."

Dr Douglas private information from immigration forms and travels were also accessed by public officers and were included in affidavits that were filed in the claim of Mr Mills in June 2018.

In that matter Dr Douglas was successful in his application to Justice Trevor Ward to strike out Mr Mills' claim on the grounds that the affidavits of Police Inspector Jacqueline Brown, Immigration Officer Tishema Watson and DeHaan Henry, information and communications technology consultant to the Ministry of National Security, headed by Prime Minister Dr Harris, was an abuse of process on the basis that these public officers have used their positions to disclose the defendant's personal information to Mr Mills, a private citizen, to fuel his claim, in breach of the defendant's constitutional right to privacy guaranteed

by section 3 of the Constitution of Saint Christopher and Nevis.

The legal team also contended that the Constitution forbids the bringing of a second application once the Attorney-General has filed an application under section 36(4) of the Constitution and this would be dispositive and fatal to the claimant's case.

In July 2018, Justice Ward granted the application to strike out and awarded costs to Dr Douglas.

Anthony said Dr Douglas waited until the conclusion of the civil matter brought by Attorney General Vincent Byron.

Justice Ward ruled on February 20, 2019 that Dr Douglas, who accepted a Diplomatic Passport from the Commonwealth of Dominica after prime minister Timothy Harris refused to give him one upon his new status as Leader of the Opposition did not breach the St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution and dismissed the claim brought by the government.

Related Articles