Local News

Prime Minister’s Mitchell Suite Dissmissed

ST GEORGE ‘S, Grenada: The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by the Prime Minister of Grenada Keith Mitchell in relation to a libel action commenced by him last year against Lloyd Noel and Cayman Net Ltd, the parent company of Caribbean Net News.

Cayman Net Ltd was named in a writ issued in Grenada by Mitchell in August 2007, alleging the publication of libelous statements contained in an article published by Caribbean Net News written by Lloyd Noel, a former attorney general of Grenada.In his article, Noel referred to the apparent possibility that Mitchell is or was a US citizen, as well as a citizen of Grenada. The implication of this, if true, is that Mitchell would likely have been disqualified by the Constitution of Grenada from standing for election as a Member of Parliament.

The assertion that Mitchell is or was a US citizen first surfaced last year in pleadings filed in a New York court by victims of convicted fraudster Eric Restheiner seeking to recover the sum of US$1 million in cash allegedly paid to Mitchell by Restheiner.

According to Noel, the writ filed by Mitchell was another example of a frequently used ploy in Grenada to prevent parliamentary debate on such issues, given that the Speaker has consistently ruled that any such debate would then be sub judice.

In September last year, the Cabinet’s so-called Special Legal Advisor, Hugh Wildman entered judgment for Mitchell in default, he claimed, of a defense being filed. However, from 1 August to 15 September every year the court is on long vacation and the time for filing any document or pleading in a case is on hold. In other words, the time for filing a defense in the matter began to run from 16 September.

Nevertheless, the court’s Registrar inadvertently signed the default judgment, but when the attorneys acting for Noel and Cayman Net discovered this they immediately advised the Registrar that it was irregular and had to be revoked.

The Registrar accordingly revoked the order for judgment in default and went before a High Court Master to get it confirmed.

Wildman then appealed to the Court of Appeal, on Mitchell’s behalf, against the Master’s ruling.

After reading the affidavits and skeletal arguments, Justice of Appeal Denys Barrow SC dismissed Mitchell’s appeal with costs, without apparently needing to hear oral submissions on the issues.

A defense in matter was, in fact, filed on 17 September 2007, but to date no answer has been filed by Mitchell. In addition, the attorneys acting for Noel and Cayman Net have raised another point that Grenada’s attorney general has no jurisdiction or standing to file a civil case in a private matter between the prime minister and another citizen. A decision on this issue has so far been reserved for about six weeks.

In relation to the citizenship issue itself, Mitchell has denied that he is currently a US citizen but has not so far revealed the circumstances in which he may have renounced such citizenship following its reported granting in 1984, the same year in which he was first elected as a member of parliament in Grenada..

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