The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ACCESS to the courts is under review after a judicial matter concerning the 2021 general election was unable to be heard ahead of the polls.

The matter was highlighted in a recent report by the Organisation of American States (OAS) and has since been brought to the attention of Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell spoke on the matter yesterday when addressing the OAS Permanent Council meeting, which included a presentation of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission Report on the 2021 general election.

According to the report, a pastor attempted to seek an injunction to prohibit the holding of the election but was unable to receive a hearing ahead of the polls, impeding his access to the court.

“With respect to access to electoral justice, reference in the report to the case of Glenroy Bethel & Dexter Edwards against Parliamentary Registration Department and Ministry of National Security where an election injunction was sought due to the late release of the voter registry and concerns around the impact on voter registration because of the snap election,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Now, it is important to note that in this specific instance, there does not seem to have been a formal request by the litigant for a hearing date with the courts. What we found was when we examined the file that an action was actually filed, there was a supporting affidavit, but the litigant has a responsibility to move the process forward and that’s done by writing the registrar and indicating this is an emergency we need to have a date set down.

“We didn’t find any evidence in the file for the litigant himself to actually move the process beyond simply filing the document. We’re still looking at the file but that’s the evidence we’ve uncovered so far. Notwithstanding that, in this particular case, when we were in opposition, we faced a similar experience with respect to access to the courts, and so we identify with the criticism because there was a state of emergency or the equivalent during the pandemic. We sought to challenge the legality of it, but could not get a hearing in a timely fashion.

"We brought that particular observation before the new chief justice, and he’s agreed to have a look to see about this issue of access to the courts because we think this is an important observation.”

Pastor Bethel filed his claim on September 6, 2021, before the Supreme Court in Grand Bahama, seeking an injunction.

The OAS report said: “He alleged the election could not be free and fair given the late release of the voters’ registry for the advanced poll and concerns related to the impact of the snap election on the ability of citizens to register. He informed the Mission that despite efforts, he did not receive a date for the hearing of the injunction application at the time of the election.”

Yesterday, Sir Ian confirmed the matter is under review.

"While we have located a filed action in the name of these parties, filed just before the general elections, we do not see, on the file, any formal request by letter or otherwise, for the matter to be heard by a judge in Grand Bahama," he said.