‘Don’t send me to Tobago’

Justice Carol Gobin.
Justice Carol Gobin.

HIGH Court judge Justice Carol Gobin is seeking a meeting with Chief Justice Ivor Archie to discuss his proposed transfer of her to Tobago for the roll-out of the Family Court there.

She is not happy with the proposed transfer.

On Monday, Archie wrote to Gobin telling her the Family Court subdivision was expected to be rolled out from September 16. He told her it would be the first time the subdivision was being established there and it was “desirable that a judge with experience in the subject area be assigned to pioneer this important initiative.

“Having regard to your significant experience in family law, I am pleased to assign you to the Family Court, Tobago effective September 16 2019, until further notice,” Archie told Gobin, adding that suitable arrangements would be made for her accommodation.

In her reply on Friday, Gobin told him the move was being “unfairly imposed,” especially since she had little experience in family law and has never sat as a judge in the Family Court pilot project, nor had she been one of the judges selected to supplement the ranks of that court.

“The reference to my ‘significant’ experience in your letter appears, respectfully, to be misplaced and misconceived and a means merely of attempting to legitimise a unilateral, arbitrary, unlawful and indefinite geographic and professional relocation which has also been unfairly imposed without prior notice or consultation indeed of basic professional courtesy,” Gobin said.

She also said the “unilateral and arbitrary assignment” was taking place in the context of their “well documented past differences” and would appear, to any dispassionate and reasonably informed by-stander, “to be tantamount to the imposition of a sanction.”

“The proposed exercise of power of assignment has the potential to adversely impact the security of tenure which I am guaranteed as a High Court Judge and also to undermine the administration of justice.

“These are decisions that must be infused with the greatest degree of fairness having regard to the wider interests that can be affected. It is clear that the proposed decision falls far short of these standards,” she told the Chief Justice, as she asked him urgentlyto reconsider the assignment and embark on consultation with other members of the Judiciary.

A meeting with judges is scheduled for Monday and Gobin has asked for her letter to be tabled on the agenda.

“I have no desire to escalate this issue but note that, having regard to the sensitivity and significance of the matters at stake, that I must expressly reserve the right to articulate a more comprehensive and formal objection to this purported assignment.”

She said the implementation of a new and intrusive policy of undisclosed terms was “grossly unfair” not just to her but all members of the Judiciary who may be potentially affected.

“The forced physical relocation of a member of staff, without consultation, is the most intrusive decision which can be undertaken in the management of any enterprise. The law has always required that alternatives be considered so that forced relocation is imposed only as a last option,” she said.

She said it has been a long-standing historical practice of the Judiciary that civil judges were not assigned to Tobago for extended and indefinite periods, and judges have had to arrange their personal lives to facilitate their work in Port of Spain and, when required, in Tobago.

“Quite apart from this, any decision as to relocation must take into account the individual circumstances of persons affected,” she said.

She cited legal principles of natural justice, while also acknowledging the Chief Justice had an expressed statutory obligation to comply with the requirements.

“On any view this obligation has not been met in this case,” she said, since, she said, there has been no consultation on the establishment of a sub-division of the Family Court in Tobago.

Gobin also said a most material consideration in the exercise of any power of reassignment must be the effect the decision would have on the administration of a judge’s individual docket, litigants and the effect it can have on the administration of justice which, she said, “was at an all-time low.”

“I am, as always, willing to fulfil my role as a judicial officer but I note that I am entitled to the benefit of a fair and lawful process in respect of any decision which will have inevitable and deleterious consequence for me both professionally and personally. T

“The effect of this assignment will be to remove me from the type of practice which I have undertaken for my entire career as a judicial officer and will remove me from my family for an apparently indeterminate period,” she told Archie.

Gobin’s letter was shared with all judges, ahead of Monday’s meeting. Judicial sources have said it appeared to be a “personal attack” on her because of her speaking out on issues relating to Archie's tenure as Chief Justice.

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"‘Don’t send me to Tobago’"

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