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Categories: Politics

A KANGALOO COURT?

THERE is no evidence that President Christine Kangaloo was influenced in her controversial decision to replace the competent Deborah Thomas-Felix as head of the Industrial Court.

And certainly, not by Kangaloo’s husband, Kerwin Garcia, the senior counsel, who, according to one calculation, has raked in $14.25 million in State legal briefs during the Rowley Administration.

Garcia has represented the Ministry of the Attorney General, other government ministries and State corporations since September 2015.

The non-reappointment of the eminent Thomas-Felix has raised queries about the system of naming the President of the Industrial Court.

It is not known if Garcia has represented the State sector at the Industrial Court.

But the Law Association, the parliamentary opposition and the labour movement raised questions about the appointment process of judges.

The law body expressed concerns that judges seeking reappointment might seek to ingratiate themselves with the Government.

Thomas-Felix had earned a reputation as a tough Court President, who often delivered judgments in favour of workers.

The employer class was dissatisfied with many of her rulings.

A senior Government official reportedly opposed the reappointment of Thomas-Felix.

The Government is, as the Law Association noted, a party to many disputes before the Industrial Court.

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce held a seminar on the Court’s rulings, and denounced Court judges.

The Law Association made the pertinent observation: “Given that the President of the Republic herself is effectively elected to her office by the Government, it is hard to eliminate altogether the perception, if not the risk, that an incumbent President of the Industrial Court might strive to avoid alienating the Government in order to pave her way to re-appointment.”

In other words, the appointment process may be muddied by politics.

Opposition Member of Parliament Rudy Indarsingh claimed there was “a tangled web.”

It is common knowledge that the Rowley Government could be authoritarian and thin-skinned, and is inclined to subvert independent institutions.

The association made the further observation that “since the reappointment process is neither transparent nor guided by any objectively verifiable standards, Her Excellency is not required to give any reasons for her course of action.”

Kangaloo does not constitutionally have to explain why she snubbed Thomas-Felix and appointed Heather Seale to the post.

But there was no transparency in the process.

No one knows why Thomas-Felix lost a job which she performed with capability and objectivity.

The Law Association echoed a popular view that Thomas-Felix made a “sterling contribution to the development of good industrial relations practice in the employment sector in Trinidad and Tobago.”

For inexplicable reasons, a modern T&T has lost a capable senior public office holder.

There is no knowledge of what guided the appointment of Seale, or whether the new President was proposed or endorsed by any person or institution.

Light is the best disinfectant, the old saying goes, and Trinidad and Tobago would be better served if the process is revised.   

The law body justifiably noted that “as long as judges of the Industrial Court are perceived to depend upon the Government for their re-appointment, concerns about the Court’s judicial independence will resurface.”

The brief analysis is that the appointment of Industrial Court judges is not seen as independent and open to scrutiny.

The President of the Court is handpicked by the Head of State, without guidelines or accountability.

In this case, skeptics may term is a Kangaloo Court.

Ken Ali

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