Justice Alex Henderson got down to business Tuesday and pressed attorneys involved in the petition challenge to Tara Rivers’ election to move quickly because of the public interest. The case is now set for 17 July, when the lawyers representing John Hewitt, the petitioner, and Rivers will argue whether or not she was qualified to be elected to office in West Bay at last month’s election. Given that Hewitt is the husband of Velma Hewitt, the UDP candidate who came fifth in the political race and who is a former officer of the local courts, Henderson told the attorneys involved that if they wished to make representations to have the local judges all recuse themselves from the case, they must do so in writing by Friday.
Meanwhile, Rivers, the newly appointed education minister in the PPM administration, has been given just two weeks to prepare her affidavit addressing the facts of the allegations challenging her qualification by the petitioner, who is represented by Steve McField.
Paul Keeble, who along with Grahame Hampson is representing Rivers, was only able to squeeze one extra week from Henderson, despite his original pleas for four weeks so they could consult with constitutional expert and lead counsel, Jeffery Jowell QC, in London. The judge pointed out the need to address the issue quickly but bent on his original seven days once a date was secured for mid-July.
The lawyers on both sides were instructed to have their skeleton arguments submitted to each other and the court by 12 July in preparation for the two-day hearing, which will decide whether or not Rivers is qualified.
It became apparent that Rivers may still hold a US passport during the directions hearing and that her lawyers will be arguing the case that the passport was “thrust upon her by birth” rather than an acquisition demonstrating any allegiance to another country as alleged.
The hearing move quickly as Henderson pushed the lawyers into action in front of a packed courtroom, where significant numbers of Rivers’ supporters from the Coalition for Cayman, the political platform on which she ran, as well as friends were in attendance, including Mervin Smith, Rivers’ West Bay Running mate. John and Velma Hewitt and their supporters in West Bay were also in court for the hearing. The new Speaker of the House, Juliana O’Connor Connolly, now a member of the government, was also in attendance.
Aside from the stumbling block that Rivers has to cross in connection to her alleged possession of a valid US passport, she must also deal with a second ground in the petition that relates to her time resident overseas before the election. It is no secret that Rivers was based in the UK between 2006 and 2009, when she was employed as a legal associate for a London law firm. However, she was also studying part-time.
The elections law requires that all candidates are primarily resident in Cayman during the seven years prior to any election they wish to contest. There are, however, a number of exemptions, one of which is for the purpose of study, but it is not clear if this also applies to those who were employed full-time while studying or just full-time students with part time jobs.
Source-CNS
