The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FRED Smith, QC, has said the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal in the matter of Canadian Bruno Rufa is another great victory for the rule of law in The Bahamas.

“Once again the judiciary is manifesting its independence. It is giving The Bahamas hope for its democracy and for due process,” said Mr Smith, whose client had been subjected to an unlawful deportation order in 2015.

Mr Rufa, a longtime homeowner in Freeport, was given seven days by the Department of Immigration to wrap up his affairs and leave the country, despite being granted a visa giving him permission to remain in The Bahamas for 150 days.

Former Court of Appeal President Dame Anita Allen, along with appellate Justices Stella Crane-Scott and Roy Jones, ruled last Wednesday the director of immigration’s actions on December 23, 2015 against Mr Rufa were beyond his powers under the Immigration Act and thus not supported by law.

The appellate judges found that a Supreme Court judge’s order for the matter to be reconsidered by the Immigration Board was “erroneous” and thus worthy to be quashed.

Mr Smith told The Tribune it is illegal for the Immigration Department to arbitrarily cancel visas for people who are in The Bahamas.

“It is illegal for immigration to tell them to get their affairs in order and leave within seven days,” he said.

Mr Rufa has owned a unit at the Coral Beach Condominium for the past 20 years, and serves as president of the Coral Beach Management Company.

Mr Smith said non-citizens who own homes in The Bahamas have rights as homeowners and immigration officials cannot arbitrarily expel them out of the country.

The Supreme Court is to determine if Mr Rufa is entitled to vindicatory damages for constitutional relief. The Department of Immigration is ordered to pay all Mr Rufa’s costs in the Supreme Court trial and in the Court of Appeal.

Meanwhile, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell has spoken out against the ruling, saying it is “disappointing”.

“We believe it is wrong in law and the matter should be appealed to the Privy Council,” Mr Mitchell, Progressive Liberal Party chairman, said.

“We believe that if this is confirmed to be the law it should be reversed by statute. We continue to believe that Bruno Rufa was rightly excluded from The Bahamas at the time the decision was made by the director of immigration.”