Dear Editor,
I refer to the article entitled ‘TCL/TGI case against Guyana gov’t – CCJ reserves ruling on special leave to sue’ appearing in the online version of your newspaper on July 7, 2008, under the byline of Ms Miranda la Rose. The article referred to the matter of Trinidad Cement Limited TCL Guyana Incorporated vs the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, which was heard at the Caribbean Court of Justice on Monday June 30, 2008.
There are inaccuracies in Ms La Rose’s article. I refer specifically to paragraphs 13 & 14.
Paragraph 13 attributes to the Honourable Mr Justice Saunders and the Honourable Mme Justice Bernard a comment that there were breaches by the Guyana Government and asked why the Honourable Attorney General was using the breaches in his arguments. Mme Justice Bernard definitely made no reference to breaches by the Guyana Government. The Honourable Judge enquired of the Honourable Attorney General whether it was necessary at that stage to go into the merits of the case, meaning that only leave to file the application was being sought at present.
Paragraph 14 further specifically attributes to the Honourable Mme Justice Bernard comments to the effect that “whether TCL allowed the violations, the point was that the State of Guyana flouted the treaty obligations and to try to make excuses for an apparent disregard on the basis of TCL or action or inaction was inexcusable.” I have listened closely to the recording of the proceedings and Mme Justice Bernard definitely did not make any such comments. If such comments were made they were not made by the Honourable Judge.
Note that the audio file of the matter is still available for consultation on the Court’s website, www.caribbeancourtofjustice.org. The Court would greatly appreciate it if corrections to Ms La Rose’s report were given as much prominence as was given to the original article.
One thanks you in advance for the professional consideration your newspaper has customarily given to similar representations from the Court.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Anthony Lilla
Court Protocol &
Information Officer
Editor’s note
Having listened to the relevant portions of the tape again we accept that Mme Justice Bernard was not the person who made reference to “consistent breaches of the Revised Treaty by the GOG…” or who said, “…whether TCL allowed the violations, the point was that the state of Guyana flouted the treaty obligations…” We apologize to the Honourable Judge for any embarrassment she may have been caused.
We would like to say that listening to a lengthy audio-tape of court proceedings, where the quality of the sound is sometimes variable and where it is not always easy to distinguish voices, presents a challenge for reporters.
Nevertheless, we regard the Caribbean Court of Justice proceedings as extremely important, which is why we have invested time in reporting on them.