In his submission to the CCJ, Douglas Mendes has agreed that the Caribbean Court of Justice lacked jurisdiction to determine the case.
The admission of Mendez in his submission to the court would appear to be a capitulation of the defense of the opposition which had argued earlier that the CCJ could hear the case.
In court papers submitted to Mendez which was seen by this newspaper Mendes submitted: “The Intended Appellants agree with all three Respondents that by virtue of section 4(3) of the CCJ Act, this Honourable Court was not vested with jurisdiction to hear any matter in relation to any decision of the Court of Appeal which at the time the CCJ Act came into force was declared to be final. They therefore agree that this Honourable Court does not have jurisdiction to hear any matter in relation to a decision made by the Court of Appeal under Article 177(4) of the Constitution,” Mendes said.
Mendes added: “They also agree with the First Respondent’s submission (para 50; CCJ Ref: 2956) that, to the extent that any decision of the Court of Appeal under Article 177(4) is final and un-appealable, this Honourable Court does not have jurisdiction to grant special leave to appeal.
It is therefore unnecessary to traverse the long list of authorities which the First Respondent’s cites on the lack of jurisdiction of the Privy Council to grant special leave to appeal in the face of a statutory provision making decisions of the Court of Appeal final in election petitions or otherwise” Mendes submitted.
