Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall has asked the High Court to strike out the case – Allandres Archer-v-The Attorney General over the detention of the 26 Haitians.
In the legal document seen by Guyana Standard, the AG asked for an order for the Court to stay its directions granted on December 18, 2020, until the Notice of Appeal’s hearing and determination. Nandlall also asked for costs and any Orders the court deems just.
Archer had initially filed the case on behalf of the 26 Haitians, arguing that violations of the individuals’ fundamental rights occurred when they were placed in protective custody at the Hugo Chávez Rehabilitation and Reintegration Center.
However, in a stunning revelation earlier this month, Archer said that he had no intention to take the State to court. And he was not informed that this was the case by the Attorney-at-Law Darren Wade, who is representing the nationals.
He alleged that he was only supposed to be a witness in the case and not an applicant or to represent the Haitians.
Notwithstanding, Nandlall, on the grounds of his application, noted that the case filed by Archer breached Rule 63.02 (1) of the Civil Procedure Rules 2016.
He noted that the application is a waste of the court’s time and asked for it to be dismissed under Part 14:01 (1) (b) of the Civil Procedure Rules 2016.
Among other things, the AG contends that the proceedings were not validly instituted, and as such, the court cannot lawfully interrogate a case upon which it has no jurisdiction.
“The Court must satisfy itself that the proceedings do not suffer the defect of lack of authorization from he who seeks to move the court,” the AG said in court documents.
The Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George- Wiltshire is expected to hear the case again on January 27, 2021, for clarification or decision.
The Haitian nationals arrived in Guyana on November 7, 2020, and were subsequently apprehended by a contingent of police officers under arms and taken into custody at the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) Headquarters.
This publication understands that after the foreign nationals arrived in Guyana, they reportedly lied to immigration officers about where they would be staying – this is a violation of the immigration laws.
On December 2, 2020, Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court issued a deportation order after the Attorney General’s Chambers was expected to respond to a motion filed by Wade on behalf of the Association of Haitian Nationals in Guyana. The motion sought to get the Government to haul the Haitians before the court.
As a result, Wade moved to the High Court, challenging the deportation order. He contended that Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus’s order is arbitrary and in violation of the Haitians’ fundamental rights.
The Chief Justice on December 3 issued a conservatory order suspending the deportation of 26 Haitian nationals, who were in “protective custody” at the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration at Onverwagt, Region Five.
The nationals were released on December 9, 2020, and since, they are nowhere to be found.
