Denzil Douglas scores in high court win

A civil case brought against the former prime minister of St Kitts and Nevis has been thrown out of court.

Cuthbert ‘Big Chief’ Mills began legal action against Denzil Douglas in February, challenging his eligibility to remain an elected parliamentarian due to the second passport issue.

But Justice Trevor Ward ruled that the suit was “an abuse of the process” and would take up too much judicial time.

“The court holds that the claimant is precluded from bringing an application to determine whether the defendant has vacated his seat given that the Attorney General has already moved the court for that very determination relying on the very grounds and facts relied on by the claimant in this case.”

The federation’s attorney general begun ‘mirror’ legal action around one month before Mills.

Mills and the attorney general had sought to consolidate their cases, but the judge ruled against it.

Douglas’ legal team, led by Anthony Astaphan, has now successfully seen it thrown out.

“The court holds that the claimant is precluded from bringing an application to determine whether the defendant has vacated his seat given that the attorney general has already moved the court for that very determination relying on the very grounds and facts relied on by the claimant in this case,” said Justice Ward.

Fear over ‘cases for cash’

Local media in St Kitts and Nevis said that Mills, who is facing a potentially large legal bill, did not comment after the case was dismissed.

Submissions over costs to be award to Douglas are expected to be sent on 19 July, WIC News understands. Mills’ legal team was headed up by Anthony Ross, a supporter of Prime Minister Timothy Harris.

The Canada-based lawyer attended prime minister’s Peoples Labour Party national convention in April.

There are concerns coming out of Basseterre that a number of legal cases being worked on by Ross are politically driven.

Sources told WIC News, including some holding government positions, that they fear a lack of transparency over his links with the prime minister. Douglas, who led the country from 1995 until 2015, is due back in court last this year to defend himself in case over his holding of a Dominican passport.