Vieira: Senate must pass local government validation bill

INDEPENDENT Senator Anthony Vieira, SC, has said the Municipal Corporations (Extension of Terms of Office and Validation) Bill 2023 poses no danger to anyone and must be passed by the Senate.

Vieira expressed this opinion during debate on the bill in the Senate on Wednesday.

The House of Representatives passed it with amendments on Monday.

Vieira said, "This legislation is a necessary corollary of the judgment of the Privy Council , given on May 18, 2023, namely the case of (UNC activist) Ravi Balgobin-Maharaj against the Cabinet of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago."

He added, "That judgment and this legislation are inextricably linked. Indeed the raison d'etre of this bill is that judgment."

In its judgment, the Privy Council said the extension of the life of local government bodies was unlawful. This view was held by the High Court, Court of Appeal and two of the five Privy Council's law lords.

Vieira agreed all of these were facts. He said there is one other indisputable fact.

"This is not dangerous legislation. It serves a useful purpose. It is necessary and it is proportionate.

"I don't see how we cannot support it."

He described arguments in the public domain as to whom the judgment favoured as "legalistic hair-splitting."

After giving due respect to the Privy Council and the Judiciary, Vieira said, "This case, offers a good example of the adage that 'trials are a lottery.'

"The meaning or outcome of a trial is unpredictable and no guarantees can ever be given. The results of a trial may not reflect the true merits of a case."

The case, he continued, may have been influenced by unpredictable factors. These include a witness not coming up to scratch or getting a judge who does not see things your way.

In the final analysis, Vieira said, "The majority view holds sway. There is no getting away from that."

But he added, "One can't help but wonder, had a different panel (of law lords) been drawn, whether the judgment might have been different."

Vieira observed the presence of two Scottish judges in the Privy Council panel that delivered the judgment. He reminded senators that the debate on the bill was happening while the British parliament is engaged in heated debate over renewed calls for Scotland's independence in the wake of Brexit (the UK's leaving the European Union).

He said it was possible that views contained in the judgment were actually "a shot across the bow" of the British parliament about Scotland's independence.

Referring to several paragraphs of the judgment, Vieira said, "The dicta I have just cited represents a warning, not just to this parliament but to all parliaments in the Commonwealth."

That warning, he continued, is "not to play fast and loose with voting rights and democratic processes and not to make decisions pertaining to representation on behalf of citizens."

Viera did not know whether such a warning was applicable to TT.

He reiterated it was clear that the Privy Council determined that the extension did not breach the Constitution on any level, and also said it was equally clear the Privy Council rejected this argument from Balgobin-Maharaj as well.