No Trinidad Top Cop in place
…as court nullifies Griffith’s acting appointment
(Trinidad Guardian) For the first time since Independence, this country is temporarily without a Commissioner of Police.
Delivering a 58-page judgement yesterday afternoon, High Court Judge Nadia Kangaloo upheld an interpretation lawsuit from social activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj, in which he (Maharaj) claimed that the Police Service Commission needed the approval of the House of Representatives to make acting and substantive appointments for the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs).
Kangaloo’s decision in the case effectively invalidated the acting appointment given to former police commissioner Gary Griffith after his three-year stint in the post ended in mid-August.
It also invalidated the acting appointment given to DCP McDonald Jacob, after Griffith went on leave and was temporarily suspended by the PSC due to its probe into the issuing of firearm user’s licenses (FULs) by the TTPS.
Even if Maharaj’s lawsuit was dismissed, Jacob would not have been able to continue the post while Griffith remained on leave pending the completion of the probe, as per his (Griffith) settlement with the commission over the suspension, as
Jacob’s acting appointment was due to end at midnight yesterday.
The appointment of a new acting commissioner under the process affirmed by Justice Kangaloo, can only begin after the commission is reconstituted.
The commission is currently memberless, as although retired Justice of Appeal Judith Jones and consultant Maxine Attong were nominated earlier this week, they still require Parliamentary approval to be appointed.
While under the Constitution, the commission consists of a chairman and four members, decisions can be taken with a quorum of three.
The commission is also currently barred from completing the process of selecting a list of candidates for the substantive post, to be approved by Parliament, based on an injunction obtained by acting Senior Supt Anand Ramesar.
Ramesar is challenging the decision of the former commission members to not select him to move on to the interview stage of their recruitment process.
That injunction remains in place until Ramesar’s lawsuit comes up for hearing before Justice Joan Charles in two weeks’ time.
Presenting submissions on Maharaj’s behalf earlier this week,
Anand Ramlogan SC pointed to correspondence from the Commission to the Office of the President from midAugust, in which it submitted Griffith and a serving police officer’s names when recommending the acting appointment pending its completion of the substantive recruitment process.
“Why would it submit more than one name?” Ramlogan asked.
Ramlogan suggested that Parliamentary approval was vital for both substantive and acting appointments to the post because of the wide range of power which the officeholder wields.