Legal Voices – By Kisean Joseph
Legal Voices Push Towards
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Two Caribbean legal voices say Prime Minister Gaston Browne has an opportunity to mend fences with the legal profession by apologising, warning that the ongoing dispute could complicate Antigua and Barbuda’s bid to lift US visa restrictions.
The Prime Minister expressed concern about what he considered short sentences being imposed by the judiciary and referred to a “particular judge who has a propensity to give criminals a break”.
The Antigua and Barbuda Bar Association called on Browne to withdraw the threat and publicly affirm that immigration or other executive powers would not be used to influence, intimidate, punish or remove a judicial officer over decisions made in the lawful exercise of judicial office. Browne dismissed the Bar Association’s call for an apology in a social media post, writing, “Defunct ABBA, here is my response to your request for an apology, Piss off.”
St Kitts and Nevis Director of Public Prosecutions Adlai Smith, speaking on Observer Radio’s Big Issues programme, described the standoff as a “mini-crisis” and said the Prime Minister has an opportunity to mend fences with lawyers and the judiciary by apologizing.
Smith said the controversy could undermine Antigua and Barbuda’s outstanding request to the US government for the removal of visa restrictions tied to reforms of the Citizenship by Investment Programme, arguing that questions over judicial independence could feed directly into that case.
Attorney and former St Kitts and Nevis minister Dwyer Astaphan echoed the call, saying an apology would demonstrate strength rather than weakness.
“Apologizing doesn’t mean that you’re weak. It shows that you are not afraid to own up when you are wrong,” Astaphan said. “None of us always gets everything right. We are human beings. We make mistakes.”
