We are now pleased to inform you of the proceedings in our case which took place on 24th June, 2021, at the High Court of Justice, Court No. 3 before His Lordship, Honourable Mr. Justice Raulston Glasgow via Zoom.
This was the ‘First Hearing’ in a Judicial Review matter which is generally regarded as a Case Management hearing and is held in Open Court.
Unfortunately, some of our members including other members of the public were not able to join in to observe the proceedings. We were subsequently informed by the Court that it has not yet installed an online public gallery. This was because of restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and the limited capacity of the Court’s information technology.
The matters before the Court were:
(a) The Attorney-General’s application to strike out GLA’s claim for lack of standing;
(b) An application by Range Development (Grenada Ltd) (the La Sagesse Six Senses Development) to be joined as a Defendant;
(c) An application by the Hartman Resort Group Ltd (the Mt. Hartman Development) to be permitted to intervene and to be added as an interested party to these proceedings.
The Hearings
Contrary to our expectations, the Judge determined that he would hear the applications of the two Developers first rather than the standing challenge.
The Judge expressed that the basis for this was that the applicants wanted to join in the standing challenge. Therefore, if he heard the challenge first he would have precluded them from so doing if later he granted their applications. He expressed that he wanted to hear everyone in the interest of justice.
Mr. John Carrington, QC appeared with Ms. Sheila Harris, of Grant, Joseph and Co. for Singapore Heng Sheng (Grenada) Development (the Levera Development). The Court, on the request by Mr. Carrington permitted him to make an oral application for his client to be joined as an interested party. Our Counsel objected, but in due course the Judge granted the application.
The Judge granted the Levera Development permission to file written submissions in the claim and affidavits if they saw it fit to do so. The Court was of the view that the Levera Development had a right to be heard in accordance with the rules of natural justice as they would be adversely affected if GLA’s claim succeeded.
In relation to the other two applications to join, the Court entertained some submissions and finally determined that the parties exchange written submissions and that he will decide the matter on paper, without a further hearing.
Accordingly, he ordered that the hearing of the main challenge to standing be adjourned, pending his determination of the two joinder applications. The court also ordered that the claim be migrated to the Court E-Litigation portal in an effort to contain costs.
We await the Court to confirm the date of the next hearing which we will share.
Please note that due to the nature of the applications heard by the Court, it was not in a position to progress the Case Management of our Judicial Review.
The parties were represented as follows:
(1). GLA – Rita Joseph-Olivetti, Legal Representative, Mr. W. Valentine Douglas, President of GLA and Mr. Andre Joseph-Witzig
(2). The Planning and Development Authority – The Attorney General Ms. Dia Forrester, the Solicitor General Ms. Karen Reid-Ballantyne, other counsel from the Attorney General’s Chambers and Mr. Carlton Frederick, CEO of the Planning and Development Authority.
(3). The La Sagesse Development – Ms. Sabrita Khan Ramdhani and Mr. Ramdhani, QC of Ramdhani and Associates and Ms. S. Lloyd for the client.
(4). The Mt. Hartman Development – Mr. Hylton QC, Mr. S. Gibbs and Ms. Daniella Williams-Mitchell of Danny Williams and Co. and representatives of The Hartman Group Ltd.
(5). The Levera Development – Mr. John Carrington QC with Ms. Sheila Harris of Grant Joseph and Co and a representative of the client.
As a volunteer run NGO, GLA is constrained by capacity to always communicate matters as swiftly as possible. Nevertheless, within GLA’s ability, best efforts are always made to keep the public and members abreast of Court developments. If you would like to volunteer your time and expertise to support our cause, you can get in touch with the GLA via Facebook or the GLA website.
Thank you for your continued support in this important struggle for transparency in land governance matters in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
Grenada Land Actors