AG appeals Marcia Ayers-Caesar ruling

High court Judge Marcia Ayers-Caesar
Photo by Lincoln Holder
High court Judge Marcia Ayers-Caesar Photo by Lincoln Holder

THE State has been granted conditional leave to petition the Privy Council in its challenge against the refusal of the Court of Appeal to remove former president Anthony Carmona as a party to a lawsuit filed by former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar who is challenging her short-lived judicial appointment.

Justices of Appeal Peter Jamadar, Nolan Bereaux and Peter Rajkumar on Monday granted the Attorney General conditional leave to take its challenge to the London courts.

In a majority ruling in March, acting Chief Justice Allan Mendonca and Appellate Judge Peter Jamadar dismissed the AG’s appeal seeking to reverse the decision of High Court judge David Harris to grant her leave to pursue her judicial review claim against Carmona.

Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux delivered a dissenting judgement in which he contended that her claim against Carmona was devoid of merit.

Ayers-Caesar’s claim against Carmona concerns his decision to refuse to reverse her resignation after she informed him he was pressured by Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) to resign after her employers became aware that she left 52 preliminary inquires unfinished when she took up an appointment as a High Court Judge in April, last year.

Archie and the JLSC have also been sued by Ayers-Caesar, however, both parties did not appeal Harris’ decision to grant Ayers-Caesar leave.

Ayers-Caesar was appointed a High Court Judge on April 12, last year. She resigned 15 days later amid public uproar over the 52 cases she left unfinished upon taking up the appointment.

An interpretation claim has been filed by the AG’s office and is expected to come up for hearing next month.

In her lawsuit, Ayers-Caesar is claiming the JLSC acted unlawfully in seeking her resignation as a judge, that it unlawfully procured her resignation and it acted unlawfully in treating as effective her consequent purported resignation.

Ayers-Caesar is also contending that the President’s continued refusal to set aside her resignation and reinstate her as a judge is unlawful.

Ayers-Caesar is claiming she was pressured by the JLSC to resign, in that, she was told to either sign an already prepared resignation letter or her appointment would be revoked by the President. She is seeking reinstatement as well as compensation from the JLSC and the State for breaches of her constitutional rights and loss of earnings.

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