The Court of Appeal has halted proceedings and granted the BVI Christian Council permission to appeal a recent judgement in the “Kinisha Forbes et al v The Attorney General” case.
The appeal was granted by Justice Gerard Farara.
The judgement being appealed was made by Justice Adrian Jack on a request for adjournment filed by Attorney General Dawn Smith.
Smith claimed that the adjournment was necessary because her chambers was facing several difficulties, including dealing with the aftermath of the arrest of the former premier Andrew Fahie in Miami, the publication of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, the implementation of framework made between the BVI and British Governments following the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, and difficulty obtaining instructions from its client, the National Unity Government.
In his judgement, Justice Jack weighed the considerations of the AG’s claims.
He argued that on March 10th 2021, the AG was able to indicate that the government had intended to oppose the claims against them, meaning that “she obviously had sufficient instructions at that stage to serve her acknowledgement of service”.
Jack said that it is unclear to him what facts of the case would have changed since that point and what further instructions would be required by the AG in order to move forward.
He noted that even the Cabinet’s recent decision on the matter on August 22nd was merely a confirmation by the government of the aforementioned position determined back in March of 2021.
On the issue of the pressures of work on the Attorney General’s Chambers at this time, Justice Jack said that despite being sympathetic to this, he believed that “it is for the respondent to organise her resources to deal with cases to which she is a party.”
Notwithstanding the explanations provided for his decision to refuse the request for adjournment, Jack noted that the mere lateness of the application, which was filled just days before the matter was due to return to court on September 29th, was enough to justify a refusal.
Unsatisfied with the judgement, the Christian Council filed a certificate of urgency to have the court of appeal expedite a decision on its redress and halt the proceedings until an appeal hearing can take place.
In his judgement, Farara found that the Attorney General had “a realistic prospect of success and therefore ought to be granted leave to appeal”. An interim stay of proceeding, spending, the appeal hearing and determination of the application for adjournment was also granted.
The case at hand surrounds whether or not the prohibition of same-sex marriage is contrary to the constitution of the British Virgin Islands.