Appeal Court defers PM's case against Griffith

FIVE days before Christmas, the Appeal Court will hear and determine an urgent application by the Prime Minister to overturn a High Court ruling which prohibits him from publishing a report into a firearm licence audit.

Justices Nolan Bereaux, Peter Rajkumar and Maria Wilson were unprepared to hear the application for an expedited hearing on Thursday, because the judge did not have an opportunity to read the affidavits filed in the matter.

The matter has been fixed for hearing on December 20 at 10 am, the day before the end of the law term.

On December 13, High Court judge Devindra Rampersad granted the injunction in favour of former commissioner of police Gary Griffith after the state failed to give an undertaking that the audit report would not be laid in Parliament. Almost immediately, the state filed an appeal to "correct the errors" made by the judge.

Griffith, now the political leader of the National Transformation Alliance, had complained about the legality of the setting-up of the committee by Dr Rowley and his National Security Council (NSC) to investigate the police firearms department's licensing regime, its operations, and the issue of FULs.

Griffith, who held the post from 2018-2021, said he was concerned that the contents of the report and the process used by the committee – comprising retired police officers – were irretrievably tainted by bad faith and illegality, because the Prime Minister had no power to appoint such a committee, and because of statements Dr Rowley made after Griffith announced the launch of his party and his decision to reapply to be top cop.

On October 28, Griffith was given permission to pursue his judicial review claim against Rowley, the NSC members, and the committee. He claims the publication of the report, or any part of it, would expose him to public ridicule and, if laid in Parliament, would protect Rowley and the media, by qualified or absolute privilege, from defamation claims for damages.

In court on Thursday, lead attorney for the Prime Minister Russell Martineau, SC, argued that Justice Rampersa's order was too wide and prevents his client even from sharing the contents of the report with the President. Martineau said the injunction also prohibited the Prime Minister from sharing the report with anyone else who is adversely affected.

"It is not an interim order. It is a blanket order," Martineau submitted. He argued that the width of the order was detrimental to public administration.

Martineau began referring to paragraphs of an affidavit filed by Griffith's attorney Larry Lalla which annexed the affidavit of former assistant commissioner Raymond Craig to support his point, But Bereaux cut him short, saying he had not had an opportunity to read that document.

Bereaux said the court had to determine the urgency of the appeal, but it had to be in control of the evidence.

Attorney Avory Sinanan SC, who leads Griffith's legal team, opposed the application for an expedited hearing. He said the real issue was whether the judge was "plainly wrong" in granting the injunction.

Rajkumar questioned whether the issue could not be resolved by modifying the language used by the High Court judge, and urged the opposing parties to consider an alternative if the prohibition on publishing was too wide.

Sinanan said while the Attorney General had given an assurance that the report would not be published, he had not given an undertaking to the court.

Bereaux also suggested the opposing sides come together and find an workable solution.

Martineau said, "We are always open to any reasonable discussion," but noted this was a firearms issue and dealt with crime. Sinanan said they had travelled that road before without success.

Justice Wilson questioned whether the injunction also prevented Griffith from responding to claims in the report, but Sinanan said the "talk about the width of the injunction is a red herring."

Named as respondents in Griffith’s lawsuit are Dr Rowley, former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi, ministers Fitzgerald Hinds, Colm Imbert, Stuart Young, Marvin Gonzales and retired police officers Wellington Virgil, Raymond Craig, Lennard Charles, and Brian Pierre – who formed part of the audit team.

Sinanan leads Larry Lalla, and Ajay Babal for Griffith. Martineau, Kerwyn Garcia, Tenille Ramkissoon, Kendra Mark-Gordon, Nisa Simmons, and Chantell Le Gall represent the appellants.