(Trinidad Guardian) Retired Justice Stanley John has called for a complete restructuring of the Civil Law Department (CLD) of the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs (AGLA).
His recommendation comes after a five-month probe into the State’s failure to defend a malicious claim by nine accused of kidnapping and murdering businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman in 2006, which led to the men being awarded a $20 million compensation by High Court Master Martha Alexander in January.
The overhaul, John said, would avoid any recurrence of missing files. It will entail digitalising most of the work and getting rid of the paper.
It is also a bid to strengthen the AGLA given the volume of litigation it now faces.
In addition, it would make the department more efficient, which would support other departments in the AGLA in the administration of justice.
This was contained in a 60-page detailed report that he handed over to Attorney General Reginald Armour on Thursday.
In an interview with Guardian Media, John said the complete restructuring of the CLD would ensure that the Solicitor General’s Department performs a critical role in the administration of justice.
The CLD is under the ambit of the Solicitor General Office by advising the State on all aspects of civil law.
It also represents the State in both Constitutional and civil proceedings, assists in the formulation and execution of Government policy within the limits of the law, and vets financial documents relating to loan agreements and bond issues on the domestic and international markets. In the next couple of months, John said, he hopes the public would have trust and faith in the Office of the Attorney General.
“The aim and objective of the report is to have confidence in the office of the Attorney General. The office of the Solicitor General being the largest civil law chamber in the country.”
With constitutional and judicial review matters skyrocketing, Justice John said,
“We have to keep up.
”Missing files
In January, High Court Master Martha Alexander ordered $20 million compensation for the nine accused–Shervon and Devon Peters, their brother Anthony Gloster, Joel Fraser, Ronald Armstrong, brothers Keida and Jameel Garcia, Marlon Trimmingham, and Antonio Charles–when she delivered her decision in their malicious prosecution case.
The group had filed the lawsuit almost four years after they were freed of the charges in May 2016.
The Office of the Attorney General entered an appearance in the case but failed to defend it, leading the group’s legal team, led by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, to successfully obtain a default judgment against it in January 2021. The State has since challenged the award to the nine men.
Naipaul-Coolman’s voluminous file, according to Armour, disappeared one day after the Solicitor General was served with the court documents pertaining to the malicious prosecution case.
“On May 29, 2020, the State of Case and a Claim Form (for the malicious prosecution case) were served on the Solicitor General’s Department. An officer of that department signed for acceptance of that service. The record shows that on June 22, 2020, a file was opened for that matter and was sent to the (then) Solicitor General (Carol Hernandez) for assignment. Thereafter the file disappeared,” Armour had said.
This caused public scrutiny, which led to two investigations being launched.
John and retired Justice Rolston Nelson were appointed by Armour in February to advise the State on the way forward, following the court’s award.
