Can't say I'm surprised at the ruling.So,if it was impropper to have removed Sir Gerald without cause,then any decision(s) made by the commission under the non-legal/non-b inding appointment of Juno
Samuel,then they are obviously null and void.

It's back to square one.

UPP(ALP)=chaos. Would love to see you run independent!

Joanne Massiah said ... “The Commission was properly constituted quorum-wise. If we follow that logic, anything the Commission did from the day Samuel took the chair last year has no effect. Would you throw the entire country into chaos that way?”

Joanne it is the actions of your PM and his cabinet that "threw the entire country into chaos. Not the judge who simply heard all the facts and made her judgement on the facts she had presented before her. This UPP administration is full of "lawyers" yet they always seem to have a problem with the judiciary, judges and judgements that is not in their favour.

Joanne the chaos started when your party decided to preempt the courts decision and do as ya'll like.

If the PM is the minister responsible for elections the buck stops with him not Sir Gerald or the Commission who by the way were cleared of all wrong doing already in the government investigation and report.

I know now (like I have known for years) that the U.P.P. have lost it and they are DESPERATE. I listen to Joanne radio show today (27/1/12) and when she was ending she read from the Caribarena article in which it was reported by Mann that the engines were new. She however, skillfully left out the part of the story that spoke to "the additional questions that were raised from the information received from Mann". I smiled to myself, because I believe SHE CALCULATED that most of her readers DID NOT read the article, and having not done so they would have been led down a particular road. I FIND THAT SO DISGUSTING. U.P.P. MUST GO. MUST.

You by-pass procedure, there was no haste, his name was cleared in a tribunal but he was still removed, there is no good-faith for the judge to use to justify letting juno decisions stand as he was appointed in good-faith and his actions were in good-faith. In fact, the decisions made were all against what the other commissioners wanted, according to the other article.

The pm had no logical or reasonable reasons to have by-pass the bureaucratic processes specified in the appropriate laws to have acted with haste, hurry and SOLELY to remove a constitutional rights protector (commissioner).

This government will allow their hatred and emotion affect their decision making which will leave us the people starving, poor and victimizing each other for food, clothes, cars, and things most of us believe we deserve over the other.

Antigua will continue to get worse so long as the people do not take action to stop it. Joanne is now doing well, driving and living in comfort. Her manner of speech and behaviour in public forums has never given an impression of any finesse. This disrespect towards the judiciary are the crocus bag type comments I have now come to expect from Joanne (and Chaku)…the other members of the legal profession within the UPP party have to be really thick skinned if they do not find this whole episode an embarra ssment. Have to wait and see if any of them have the moral fiber to react appropriately!

Let's see how the sorry opposition handles this latest UPP fiasco. Problem is, they're just as bad as the current government. Both the old and new politicians alike.

Sorry Joanne i would have to think twice before voting for you in the future. you have let me and all progressive independent women down with this reasoning!

UPP=Country in Chaos

What part of illegal, illogical, arbitrary, unreasonable and null and void does the good Senator not understand?

Her comment reminds me of the comment made by MP Baptiste when Justice Blenman ruled in the election case.

I would recommend that the politicians think before they open their mouths.

"Let's fix the little things before we attempt to fix the big things."

Don't worry Joanne, as long as the cheese keeps coming everything is all right!

Antigua, Antigua what have happen to our beautiful little Antigua? am so upset and disturb how educated people could become slaves of ignorance it is such a pity. Joan how much worse can Antigua get under your government? As educated adults you guys are acting so improper that you all should be ashame of yourselves, Antigua is a free democratic country and our country have laws that should be abided by and when a goverment representative is going to say the legal system is wrong because it is not in your favor, what exactly are you say it is okay to break the law if it is in your favor? come on people, you took on this job to protect our country and it's people, you are our representatives the people are the government and we the people elected you not the other way around. Antiguans you need to stand up and take your country back this is our country not UPP country and when I say this no violence all peace all the time but up must get rid of these people our country is only a 108 square miles and the corruption is larger than the island. Rise Antiguans rise, it's our country

I guess Senator Messiah didn't read the judge's ruling, before she commented. The PM and the GG had acted "unlawfully" in removing Sir Watt from his post. As the Court said the PM didn't give a legit reason in his letter why he lost confidence in Sir Watt, and the GG acted out of jurisdiction. Why is this "unreasonable?" I am lost here, with the good Senator's logic! It seems she is more concerned in having Juno Samuel around for the next general elections to continue to be the PM's puppet to stir the pot, and add flavor to it! I believe the Court made the right decision in favor of Sir Watt, but the answer is will the GOAB abide by it? The only "choas" I see here is the Senator openning her mouth! The country is already in "choas" with poor-leadership , a crippled economy (with more and more taxation on the poor), high unemployment, crime, little\nil FDI, and a blood-sucker named the IMF! Can someone relay that to the good Senator?

I have said over and over again, these people are idiots. Congratulations Mr. Watt. Antigua needs plenty more lie you. Plenty people who will fight for their rights and tap chat. U.P.P. must go!!!

Watching from my perch I am so happy that a man who once said "to hell with the constitution" later in life could file a judicial review when he felt aggrieved.

Why do UPP politicians feel the need to defend what is obviously wrong? Strange enough they promised to right the wrongs, presumably they meant the wrongs of others. And was it one strike and you are out? Who is keeping records? Can someone tell us....I lost track, but I have reached the conclusion that UPP MUST GO. Run the dictator out of town.

When I listened to reactions to this judgement by Joanne Massiah and Harold Lovell, we understand why she is a failed lawyer and politician and why he is the Deputy PM and a budding statesman.
Obviously, if Sir Gerald was illegally removed then anything Juno Samuels signed as Chairman is null and void, even if it was based on a decision of the Commission. If the Commission was illegally constituted then anything it did was also illegal. This is common sense. In the case of the firings and transfers, Juno did these on his own as he claimed he had executive privilege.

If his appointment was illegal then any decision under his pen is illegal not sure why the spokesman can"t see that.

In response to the Senator's skewed logic, can we imagine a hypothetical scenario where the Governor General acts on the advice of others in the PM's own party to have him illegally replaced by Mr. Lovell, for instance, as PM (while Spencer remains a “member” of the party or government)? Spencer then brings an action in court and wins under a similar theory as Justice Remy’s. Would it be "unreasonable" to have any decisions made by the hypothetical Lovell-led administration nullified as Spencer is returned to his rightful position? Of course not.

The problem from the beginning with this case is that PM Spencer acted illogically, arbitrarily and unreasonably when he terminated Mr. Watt as chairman. Now he has to suffer the consequences of his poor decision-making . Stop blaming the judge. She is merely correcting the mess the PM and his minions created. Next time, the PM should think carefully before he acts…and more importantly, get “good” legal advice.

It seems like it is a habit for individuals to tear down, malign and disrespect decisions of the court; especially when it is not in their favour. Now to deal with the legal reasoning that Senator Massiah seems to be void of.

First of all, meetings that were conducted with a quorum and the chairman was present...his vote/approval of any decision is nullified and therefore those meetings were improper & illegal. (The law speaks to composition of a quorum). Furthermore, in any other decision that Mr. Samuel's vote was the deciding factor for a majority vote, his vote had no effect and the majority of votes will now tie with those opposed...causi ng they ayes and nays to be even (remember the composition of the Commission totals an odd number). Thirdly anything he signed is null and void. And finally, the law impliedly states that a commission cannot function without a chairman, now if there was never a chairman (such as this case), and no one was appointed or acted in that post, any decisions made is therefore improper. So, that is the basic logic that I see that the Judge used to nullify all decisions taken while Mr. Samuel was present.

Senator Joanne Massiah, Stated:
Quote:

“Juno Samuel as an individual did not make any decision on his own, but ABEC, as a whole, made the decisions,”

Paddy James, who sat on the commission during the illegal chairman's tenure yesterday stated :
Quote:

Under the chairmanship of Bruce Goodwin and Samuel, a number of personnel transfers took place, carried out by both chairmen despite the objections of the other electoral commissioners. On several occasions, James said, Samuel took actions on his own authority as ABEC chair, based on his own interpretation of the Representation of the People Act, as amended. Read more: http://www.caribarena.com/antigua/news/politics/99545-james-hails-sir-geralds-victory.html#ixzz1kemZQuA1

..

Would you throw the entire country into chaos? Well Ms Joanne would you? The judge said the action was ILLIGAL! With what logic and reasoning skills would make anyone believe the victim of the crime is at fault? It’s worse than we thought! So I guess the next move is to defy the court? She said the judge's ruling that nullified all decisions taken while Samuel was chairman was, in her view, unreasonable. Really? So It was reasonable for the GG to get involved in what the court call wrong doings? “Juno Samuel as an individual did not make any decision on his own, but ABEC, as a whole, made the decisions,” Massiah said. Earth to Massiah! So let’s leave him and really through the country into chaos. In a totally violation of the constitution of a country and a trained lawyer rattles senselessly to rationalize what is clearly the right decision based on the law. So are we going to appeal and loose and waste tax payers money AGAIN? Mr. Samuel, you are now officially the political football.

IS THIS LADY A LAWYER? IS THIS LADY A MEMBER OF THE BAR ? IS THIS LADY AN OFFICER OF THE COURT? POURING CONTEMPT ON A SITTING JUSTICE ON THE BENCH.,DOES THIS LADY REALIZED THAT WE LIVE IN A CIVILIZED, NON-BARBARIC SOCIETY AND THAT THE COURTS ARE THERE TO GIVE JUSTICE?
I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN "MY LADY". IF YOUR PRIME MINISTER IS GOING TO APPEAL ( WHICH I DOUBT) JUST DO THAT, NO NEED TO ATTACK AN ESTABLISH PILLAR OF OUT SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED, MY LADY YOUR ARE BETTER THAN THAT.

What a sore looser. Even Stevie Wonder cld see you were wrong for dismissing Sir Gerald, the same Gerald that YOUR PARTY appointed & because he wouldn't bend the law to suit YOUR DEVIOUS plan he is now on the outs. Before anything, Sir Gerald is an Attorney who took an oath to uphold & protect the constitution & laws of Antigua & Barbuda. a man like him would never allow himself to be used as a pawn. Take ya licks UPP you should be used to it by now because everything you seem to touch turns to FAILURE!

The other issue is, the decision to make all the decision juno made to be null and void, is a constitutional one, as the upp pm interfered (adversely) with democracy and the foundation of the law (constitution) "directly".

Such direct adverse interference can (and should be deem) as tyranny, "saddam husseinism" (i made that word up), oppressive, dictatorism, despot, bully, authoritarianism.

Any direct and adverse actions taken that will adversely affect our democracy, must be not be tolerated and it is sad that an attorney, who is also a representative of the people would try to accept such action. It is there leader first and the people of Antigua and Barbuda constitutional rights after.

It all boils down to money, power and you will see how evil and selfish we all get. I am not kidding, i can close my eyes and make this decision. What decision on earth juno made, that is much more important that the human and constitutional rights of the people?

I am demanding a reply from the Senator Joanne Massiah

What decision on this earth that juno made while in office that is so substantial that it will "throw the country into chaos" and can affect the national security , the economy and democracy of Antigua and Barbuda?

This logic, would more apply to what the UPP leader and the governor general did, in making such an illogical, unreasonable and illegal removal of Mr. Watts.

Because juno was at the helm of the commission and as a "head", he had a leadership (guidance) role with the commision, any act that he participated in, would be a violation and should be null and void, as he never had any authority to participate in such discussion and decision making (whether minor or major).

It is like, meeting me on the street and putting me with the two appeal judges because you think i am logical and smart and would make good decisions on legal matters but any decision I participate in making would be a complete violation, as I was not legally appoint as an appeals judge and such action has significant affect constitutional rights (you do not play with constitutional matters).