The Court of Appeal is set to rule on former attorney-general Anil Nandlall’s bid to overturn a magistrate’s decision to call on him to lead a defence to the charge that he fraudulently converted over $2 million in law reports to his own use while in office.
Nandlall’s lead attorney, Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, spent almost an hour trying to convince acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices Rishi Persaud and Franklyn Holder that the court should overturn the decision of Magistrate Fabayo Azore that his client lead a defence and find instead that the offence against him was not proven based on the evidence provided in the lower court.
State Solicitor Nigel Hawke represented the Magistrate in the matter and among other things argued that the charge was good in law and that the magistrate should be allowed to carry out her statutory function.
Justice Cummings-Edwards questioned Mendes as to whether the magistrate, as a creature of statute, having heard the evidence presented before her and called on the defendant to lead a defence should be prevented from carrying out her statutory duty.
Mendes responded in the affirmative, while noting that if a magistrate determines that a prima facie case was made out without evidence then she has committed an error and turning a blind eye to such an issue is permitting a violation of one’s constitutional right.
Tuesday’s hearing followed a three-month delay as a result of a stay granted by the Appeal Court.
Nandlall’s lawyers moved to the Appeal Court following the January 21st ruling by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, who upheld the legality of the charge against him.
Last December, lawyers for Nandlall moved to the High Court to have the charge thrown out, while also asking for a stay of the pending Magistrate’s Court proceedings until a decision is made.
However, Justice Dawn Gregory declined to grant an application for a stay in the proceedings against Nandlall in the Magistrates’ Court, on the ground that a single judge in chambers did not have the jurisdiction to grant such a request. The attorney later moved to the Court of Appeal in relation to the said matter and was subsequently granted the stay of proceedings.
Nandlall’s attorneys had argued that the magistrate erred in law when she overruled his submission that the offence of “Larceny by a Bailee contrary to Section 165 of the Criminal Law Offences Act” is not known to the Laws of Guyana and thereafter called on him to lead his defence.
On Tuesday Mendes maintained that the charge of Larceny by Bailee was not proven in the lower court and pointed out that even assuming if the law reports in question belong to the Ministry of Legal Affairs, that would prove an offence of simple larceny and not Larceny by Bailee.
In her ruling, Justice George-Wiltshire had said that the charge was correct in law and that Nandlall had failed to establish that a constitutional breach had occurred.
The ruling had left Nandlall dumbfounded and he had indicated his intention to appeal the decision and to apply for a stay of the ruling.
Nandlall stands charged with fraudulently converting over $2 million in Commonwealth Law Reports that were allegedly the property of the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
The charge states that between May 8th, 2015 and May 29th, 2015, at Georgetown, being a bailee and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and having 14 Law Reports of the Commonwealth, valued at $2,313,853 and property of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, he fraudulently took or converted the reports to his own use and benefit.
The Court of Appeal will now announce a date when it will give a ruling in the matter.
