The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Wayne Munroe does not believe the Office of the Attorney General can request a stay of the Court of Appeal’s citizenship ruling because “the Court of Appeal has not ordered the government to do anything”.

His comment came after Attorney General Carl Bethel said in the Senate on Wednesday that his office will request a stay of the ruling until the Privy Council can deal with the matter substantively on appeal.

The Court of Appeal affirmed Supreme Court Justice Ian Winder’s ruling that people born in the country are automatically citizens if either of their parents is Bahamian.

Mr Bethel confirmed that since the ruling, people have visited the Parliamentary Registration Department demanding to be registered to vote. However, he said, nothing has changed as a result of the Court of Appeal’s ruling “because the matter is still a matter of contest”.

“In my view they cannot get a stay,” Mr Munroe responded yesterday. “The court hasn’t ordered them to do anything. You go to the court and get a stay when there is an order from the court to do something. The court hasn’t ordered them to do anything so there’s nothing to stay. For that matter, the case is about these five children. The court hasn’t told them to do anything with regard to these five children. The court hasn’t told them to do anything, but people can now make a demand based on the court’s ruling.”

He continued: “Let’s look at the right to vote. A person can demand to be registered on the basis of this ruling. If you don’t register them, that’s wrong. If that would affect the outcome of an election, arguably they could come and complain and the result of a general election could be overturned because if they ought to have been registered then you have a problem.

“If they are denied registration and they go to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court would be bound to follow the Court of Appeal’s decision. There is no rule that says if something is under appeal you can’t be held in accordance with it.

“Even if Justice Winder had ruled against me and the Court of Appeal had ruled against me and these people I represented had gotten status in some way, I would have to bring another case to the Supreme Court and you know they would follow the decision of the Court of Appeal’s decision. The Court of Appeal generally follows decisions of previous Courts of Appeal so I would then have to appeal the matter to the Privy Council. In the meantime, the Supreme Court would be bound by the Court of Appeal’s decision unless and until that decision is overturned. The same principle applies in the current circumstance.”

For his part, Mr Bethel said Bahamian law has not changed and that it can’t be proven that an unwed man is a parent as he noted the law does not allow for using DNA as proof.