Gov’t loses parliament committees challenge

Justice Ian Chang

Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang yesterday threw out the action brought by government to challenge the numerical make up of the National Assembly’s Committee of Selection, saying that the court had no jurisdiction in the matter since there was no evidence of a constitutional breach.

Justice Chang, who also found that the constitution does not mandate that the Committee of Selection and other parliamentary standing committees must reflect the proportionality of seats held by the parties in the National Assembly, concluded that the Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s constitutional motion had been “legally misconceived.”

Nandlall had filed the motion in February to challenge the numerical make up of the Committee of Selection and to settle the composition of others, saying that it ought to be reflective of the