Court of Appeal upholds CJ ruling in Sooba/King matter
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling by Chief Justice Ian Chang in which he stated that the Local Government
Town Clerk (Ag)
Carol Sooba
Ministry could not appoint Carol Sooba to the substantive post of Town Clerk.
According to the ruling which was handed down by Chief Justice Chang in April, on the basis of the Constitution, the Minister does not have the power to appoint any official within the Local Government arm, to any position once the official is earning a certain salary – the Town Clerk position falls into that category.
The Chief Justice said that Sooba will remain in the position but as a de facto (not legally ordained) Town Clerk since the Minister used power he did not have to appoint her.
He said that the Constitution provides for a Local Government Service Commission; the body authorized for staffing among other things. In the absence of this Commission, the Minister can place a person to act in a certain position, but cannot appoint them to the substantive post.
The CJ explained that since the law was passed in 1969 to convene the Commission, this has never been done. It was thus his view that appointments cannot be made in default because of an absent Commission which is legally required. The Chief Justice said, that Sooba is a de facto (not legally ordained) Town Clerk and the Minister used power he did not have.
An appeal was filed by the Attorney General for a stay of the CJ’s order. Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall was appealing on the grounds that Chang made a judgment “against the weight of the evidence before him.” The Appeal Court is being asked to set aside the order made by the CJ to have the Local Government Minister explain Sooba’s appointment.
However, the appeal was denied on Friday after a Court of Appeal Judge, ruled that there is no need for stay of execution,
M&CC Public Relations Officer, Royston King
enforcing the initial order granted by the Chief Justice.
Meanwhile, councilors are anticipating another Court of Appeal ruling in regard to the issue, for which the City Council Public Relations Officer, Royston King, through his attorney had also filed legal documents challenging certain aspects of Justice Chang’s High Court ruling.
The document which was filed at the Court of Appeal asked that the decision by Chief Justice Chang to allow Sooba to function as the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s de facto Town Clerk, “be varied or amended.”
The appeal is also seeking to have it confirmed (made absolute) that when the applicants applied for the post of Town Clerk based on the criteria established by the Local Government Ministry, they had a legitimate expectation.