Speaker of the House of Assembly Julian Willock says he finds it to be mind boggling that none of the protesters are taking a stand against Governor John Rankin for his alleged threat to pay his attorney fees through the Consolidated Fund if the cost is not covered by the government.
Speaker Willock made the comments while speaking as a guest on the Umoja talk show recently where he publicly spoke about his legal case for the first time since the ruling was handed down by the Supreme High Court.
He said, “What I find very interesting also is that His Excellency the Governor, he will in the coming days be cross examined by the Executive branch lawyer, and he is now asking for an independent lawyer and allegedly making threats that if the government of the Virgin Islands do not pay for that, he will invoke Section 103 of the Constitution.”
“You know what Section 103 of the Constitution says? He can go into our Consolidated Fund. Why is that not upsetting to anyone, that the House of Assembly Members they’re kicking up can’t get legal representation, the Executive branch they’re kicking up, they can’t get legal representation but not word said when the Governor… Now I can’t go into the Consolidated Fund and say pay the $80,000 or whatever, but the Governor can do that. That is fine with some of the protesters. I find that to be mind boggling,” Willock further expressed.
I never wanted to stop the COI proceeding
In the meantime, Speaker Willock also made it clear that the filing of his injunction was never to halt the COI proceedings, but to have the three attorneys – Bilal Rawat, Andrew King and Rhea Harrikissoon – replaced from conducting their duties within the COI, until the October 26 judgement was handed down.
“Judge Vicki-Ann Ellis ruled that we had standing because we were participants in the Commission of Inquiry. So therefore, she set a date for October 26 for the hearing and our objections. Then around July-August, we got a press release that the Commission of Inquiry was now starting again in September, I think September 6. So, we were advised by our lawyers that what we needed to do was file an injunction and I think the Deputy Speaker didn’t participate in that one, it was just me alone filing the injunction because everything was moving so fast, to say to the three lawyers, if you’re coming back, we don’t want you to continue practicing or continuing allegedly breaking the law, we need you to hold off until the hearing,” he stated.
He continued, “You can get three new lawyers, get them call to the Bar and continue your work. At no time were we trying to stop the Commission of Inquiry. The House of Assembly have said in no uncertain terms that we are committed to cooperating as you see the Members were dragged before the Inquiry and everybody cooperated.”
COI attorneys to continue remainder of proceedings from the UK
Willock also said that information received from close sources indicate that the COI attorneys may likely complete the remainder of the COI proceedings virtually from the United Kingdom.
He said this move goes against the initial October 26 court proceeding that was to determine whether the 3 attorneys were indeed practicing in the BVI legally. This court hearing was postponed and has not yet been rescheduled.
“I have to talk to the attorneys later on today because the case was supposed to be held on October 26, they had asked for an extension and it is my understanding that they were leaving the country on the day that they asked for the extension. So the whole thing now is up in the air. There were rumours that they’re planning on withdrawing the application and staying in England and finishing off in England. Now that again in itself is a travesty because it would speak volume to the respect they have for our judicial system. These are the folks who are saying that the BVI is corrupt, that the ministers of government and all of us present and former break laws and don’t follow procedures…and here you are now who are here judging us, who are actually doing the same thing,” Willock explained.
He said this is one of the main reasons he initially brought the proceeding before the law courts, adding that no man is above the BVI’s Constitution and every person should be made to abide by these laws.