Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has appealed the June 16, 2021, High Court judgment, ordering him to pay Former Housing Minister Annette Ferguson an excess of $20 million for libel.
In a Notice of Appeal with the Full Court, Jagdeo, through his attorneys-at-Law Devindra Kissoon and Natasha Vieira, argued that the learned trial judge erred in law and, in fact, by finding that the Vice President had no real prospect of defending the claim.
“The learned trial Judge erred and misdirected herself in law by entering a default judgment against the Appellant without considering all of the grounds of his defense, by including but not limited to the defense of justification,” the lawyers said.
The lawyers contended that the learned trial Judge erred in law by failing to appreciate the overriding objective of the Civil Procedure Rules 2016 in ensuring justice between both parties, the factors outlined in CPR 12.03(3) not being exhaustive.
Among other things, Kissoon and Vieira noted that in all the circumstances, the judge wrongly exercised her discretion and misapplied the applicable law.
“The learned trial Judge erred by failing to set the matter down for an assessment hearing, depriving the Appellant the opportunity to examine the Respondent on the scope of damages to be awarded, depriving the Appellant an opportunity to be heard and in breach of CPR Rule 16.02(2).”
Despite the preceding, Jagdeo is seeking Orders setting aside the default judgment and allowing him leave to file a Defence to this action within seven days of the date of the granting of this application and extending the relevant case management timelines to allow the Appellant to defend the claim properly.
Ferguson had filed the case in January 2020 for statements made by Jagdeo during his time as Opposition Leader. The former President had accused Ferguson of seeing a meteoric rise in wealth within two years of becoming a Minister. He had also accused her of taking three house lots in Eccles for herself.
