Previous 1 / 30 Next

IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA (CIVIL) CLAIM NO. DOMHCV 2010/199 CLAIM NO. DOMHCV 2010/200 BETWEEN:- EDISON CHENFIL JAMES HECTOR JOHN Claimants -and- 1. THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA 2. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA 3. GERALD BURTON (Chairman of the Electoral Commission) 4. ALICK LAWRENCE (Member of the Electoral Commission) 5. BERNIE DIDIER (Member of the Electoral Commission) 6. MC DONALD CHRISTOPHER (Member of the Electoral Commission) 7. KONDOWANI WILLIAMS (Member of the Electoral Commission) 8. THE CHIEF ELECTIONS OFFICER Defendants (Actions consolidated by Order of Court dated 20th January 2011.) 1

Select target paragraph3

● ● ●

James v. Speaker of the House of Assembly

Resources

Preview

Legal Issue and/or Topic

Election Annulments
Election Dispute Resolution
Regional Jurisprudence

Description: The claimants are elected members of the Marigot and Salisbury assemblies. The claimants asserted the electoral results were not satisfactory and asserted that electoral reform was necessary. The claimants refused to take their seats until the complaints were heard and in response to the elected Speaker of the House on account of her alleged incompetence and inability to remain impartial. Because the claimants failed to appear at House meetings, their received notice they were notice that they were in violation of the Standing Order of the House and their seats were vacated. The President of the Commonwealth issued an election writ for Marigot and Salisbury constituencies. In 2010, the claimants were again nominated by their parties and elected to serve as public officeholders. The claimants contend before the High Court that the election writ was illegal, violated the Constitution, and was therefore void. Thus, the election held in 2010 were unconstitutional, illegal, and void. The court need not reach the merits of this case because the claimants took part in the election and regained their seats. Notably, the court indicated that the outcome may have been different had the claimants taken steps to have the election suspended or filed their claim earlier. The Claimant's suit is moot because they regained office. Accordingly, the court need not reach the merits of the case

Language

English

Geolocation

Latitude: 15.41072191312848

Longitude: -61.34989283928974

: Geolocation

Author(s): Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Date: Jun 10, 2011

Primary Documents

Dominca- James v. Speaker of the House of Assembly.pdf
english
Download View