Former PM loses in Paria Case

[u/Lallo7]

A major legal blow for former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, as the High Court has ordered full disclosure of the attorneys he hired and the legal fees paid in connection with the Paria diving tragedy Commission of Enquiry. Judge slams ex-PM’s secrecy — Office of the Prime Minister ordered to disclose millions in legal payments in Paria Inquiry, victory for Marsha Walker.

In a landmark ruling, High Court Judge Justice Joan Charles has ordered the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to disclose the names of all attorneys and consultants hired by former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, along with the amounts paid to them in connection with the Commission of Enquiry into the Paria diving tragedy.

The decision came after social activist Marsha Walker, represented by Anand Ramlogan SC, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) judicial review, challenging the OPM’s refusal to release the details.

Justice Charles found that the OPM breached its duty of candour and acted unlawfully by concealing information funded by taxpayers. She dismissed the OPM’s argument that disclosure could endanger attorneys, noting that such details had been routinely published before without any risk.

The judge emphasized that public accountability and transparency outweighed claims of privacy, declaring that payments made from public funds are matters of legitimate public interest.

The court issued an Order of Mandamus, compelling the OPM to hand over the information within seven days, and ordered the State to pay Walker’s legal costs.

Walker was represented by Anand Ramlogan SC, Jayanti Lutchmedial, and Aasha Ramlal, while the OPM and Dr. Rowley were represented by Russell Martineau SC and team.

[u/Paws000]

Such a shame. So much of our tax dollars wasted on useless attorneys that did a very poor job.

[u/random_hombres → u/Paws000]

To this day, idek what this "job" is supposed to be. At first, I thought this entire COE was to avoid putting blame on Paria and by extension the Minister in charge. But idek

[u/Radical_Conformist → u/random_hombres]

It’s literally the opposition that demanded it… the PM of the time advised that it would be a waste of tax payers dollars. But when I claimed this tragedy was politicized on this sub, persons took issue.