APPEAL: The court ‘erred’, had no business ruling on D4 case; HOA should decide
Stating that the High Court had no power to grant redress to Mark Vanterpool, Speaker of the House of Assembly (HoA) Julian Willock is contending that parliament should decide whether Vanterpool should be sworn in as Fourth District Representative.
Willock’s position was made clear through his appeal of the High Court’s ruling on Tuesday.
He said there were several areas that the court “erred” in its judgement that favoured Vanterpool. He said those errors, therefore, warrants an appeal.
Pointing to the court’s ruling that Vanterpool’s resignation was invalid and that Vanterpool ‘had no constitutional right to resign between the time he was elected and the date on which the HoA convened’, Willock argued that the court’s decision was “contrary to law and against the weight of the evidence”.
In the court documents outlining the appeal, Willock said the court erred when they determined that Vanterpool’s letter to the Clerk of the House was ‘not constitutionally recognized’ and that Willock accepting the letter ‘did not create a vacancy in the House’.
Uncorroborated evidence
The appeal document further said: “The court erred in placing reliance on the uncorroborated evidence of Mr Vanterpool that he had received many calls from his constituents expressing concern and asking him to reconsider his resignation. Such evidence was irrelevant to the legal issue of the constitutional validity of his resignation.”
“Having correctly found that ‘this was compelling as any case for the matter to have been dealt with by the House on a whole’ and that ‘it is doubtful whether the Speaker could unilaterally by acceptance or a declaration determine that a vacancy exists and proceed to exclude a member of the HoA without a formal proceeding of the HoA, the learned judge erred by proceeding to grant substantive relief instead of remitting the matter to the HoA for it to determine,” the documents further said.
As such, Willock said he believes the court failed to have any proper regard to the undisputed evidence that Willock was prepared to put the issue to parliament, where the party he supports — the VIP — holds the majority.
“The court had no power and or jurisdiction to ‘grant the redress sought’ by [Vanterpool]. Likewise, it had no power and or jurisdiction to order/direct that [Vanterpool] be sworn in as the representative of the Fourth Electoral District. The court’s jurisdiction was limited to determining the question on whether [Vanterpool] had vacated his seat in the House with the grant of appropriate declaratory relief,” the document said.
In light of the above, Willock’s appeal is that the judge’s orders be ‘set aside’ and the claim ‘dismissed’. The Speaker also wants Vanterpool to pay his (Willock’s) legal fees.
Notably Willock was the one who first suggested that the matter be brought before the courts.
Not a personal attack on Vanterpool
And in a statement following the appeal, Willock said he was not being malicious in his decision to appeal the ruling.
“An appeal against the decision ought not to be viewed as a personal attack on Mr Vanterpool. The acts of Mr Vanterpool have caused great concern and raises important points of law which a Court of competent jurisdiction ought to be allowed to discuss and decide upon,” the Speaker said through his attorneys at Veritas Law.
He added: “If the decision to appeal is proved right, this would set new ground for countries with similar provisions in their constitutions and a deeper understanding of our very own constitution.”
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You are a m*d msn
Is it important to win one seat and risk loosing six JW?
Here we go again. You should have really given law school a second attempt.
Those who actually studied law and understand the process of judicial review know that Willock is spot on. He sounds like a d**n lawyer to me!when yuh don’t know, yuh don’t know.
how you going say that he is spot on when he himself said that it was invalid..ayo need to use you common sense..he is making it bad for the government and who’s paying for all of this foolery not the people?! smh
You obviously haven’t study law to any degree and I assume the same applies for most of the bloggers here.
Common sense trumps law. You may have studied law but you sounding just like the extreemed, sorry, esteemed?
I don`t think this is about who is right or wrong.
when we look at what is going on with this mess, i see a large kick back coming. Using V.law to get as much possible out of the kitty jar to spread around.
I would really like to know what the premier is thinking about this.This is all about the money.just wait.
all he is doing is turning people against the VIP
Ok! I think the Hon. Speaker needs to get checked into the b——-l ward at Dr. Smith Hospital cause he is clearly losing it. One minute he pushing let the court decide, next minute because it was not ruled in his favour the courts had no business granting redress to District 4 representative. This sound like someone of a sound mind? He has not learned that art of silence. His p——–s behaviour responding to everything stating from the beginning take it to court has cost him or better yet tax payers big time. He needs to learn when to speak and not to speak. All of a sudden now the HOA should decide when you are the speaker and has been pushing along with VIP to take this to court. Please
true that
The speaker has to go. He is patently unfit for office.
He had his day in court. Despite spending lots of the taxpayer’s money (against the advice of the Attorney General) he fought the case and lost. Only now he is suggesting the court has no power to decide this; which is the exact opposite of what he said when he thought he was winning the case.
Despite all of his promises to be impartial and fair, he is clearly a man who clings to grudges and will pursue them to the bitter end – all at the taxpayer’s expense.
I am not sure who has the power to remove the speaker – whether it is the Governor or the Premier – but he needs to be removed, and quickly.
the best speaker in a long time HE NOT GOING ANYWHERE
We support him he is one of WE
Birds of a feather flock together and only unstable persons will flock to him. So go ahead with your delusional self.
But wasn’t the Speaker the one that asked for it to go to court when the Leader of the Opposition asked the Speaker/HOA to swear in Mr. Vanterpool? I’m confused?
It is plain to see now who is really flip flopping!
Interesting. But as Mr Willock’s lawyers no doubt advised him, an appeal does not act as a stay on the original ruling. So he is still bound to swear in Mr Vanterpool (unless the court order otherwise provides) and Mr Vanterpool should be entitled to sit in the House unless and until the Court of Appeal rules otherwise.
This is the type of political minded stringency stuff that creates dictatorship monsters.
All needed now is the right environment and a military k*****g apparatus and machine, and we will have a replica of Idi Amin, Stalin and or Hitler or Papa Doc. right here in our bedroom.
Fact.
first he said he will do it if the AG dont see a vacancy, then he didnt
he said he will do it if the governor agrees with the AG, then he didnt
now he brought it to court n say he will do what the court says, they said no vacancy
and now he wanna appeal? stop going against your words mr.speaker
and swear him in
We with you jw
Clearly we are not. Everyone can see. The little few of you are propaganda artists. Probably from JW camp. We know how intelligent and resourceful he is. So we never underestimate the level of pettyness coming from you guys.Look at the headlines for V*** for example, you can see the difference/deceitfulness just by reading the headlines. REAL PETTY Mr. Stop looking like a spoilt child thats throwing a tantrum when he does not get what he wants.
BRING AN END TO THIS FOOLISHNESS NOW OR WE THE PEOPLE WILL MARCH!!!
This is unacceptable!
Lol y’all don’t even march for things that affect you personally and you talking bout marching for a man that quit and changed his mind.
You will be one less marching with you
Keep this up and We will have a new Election based on “Vote of No-Confidence ” We just need a bi-Election…Problem solved!
I’d love to see the people march, but your words are nothing but hollow threats. It will never happen, and we will whine and cry as we always do, and never do anything about it!
This is getting ridiculous
I am trying not to be p****d by this latest development, but I just can’t help myself.
I am NOT a fan of Hon. Mark Vanterpool, nor am I a fan of Hon. Willock. As far as I am concerned one was elected and one was selcted to SERVE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE. While I am in disagreement with Hon. Vanterpool’s public flip-flopping and seeming inability to give a stable decision during a time of national importance, yet I am of the frm opinion that the decision was and still is solely HIS to make. Considering (as the court concluded) that his resignation letter was not validly addressed and submitted, then the opportunity should have been given to him to resubmit it correctly. Since he opted not to do so, then he is still the DULY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE 4TH DISTRICT, when we like him and voted for him or not (I didn’t… I am not even in his district, let alone an NDP supporter… I just care about my country).
So what I am seeing is an absolute abuse of power and a miscarriage of justice, to go back on his (the Speaker’s) word and now seek an appeal against a legal judgement which he vowed to uphold and respect. It smacks of a personal vendetta, political cronyism and down-right “bad-mindedness”! This is NOT worthy of the Government that I helped to elect! SHAME on all of you Ministers for allowing this to happen while you sit down and pretend to be helpless… you hired him, now call in your bulldog to sit down! This isn’t what we elected you to do!
Finally, the real question becomes… who is paying for this????
Most bloggers here seem to feel that this is a personal expense of the Speaker who is courageously taking up this fight for the people out of his own pocket. No, no, no. Read carefully… Veritas Law represents the Speaker of the House on behalf of the Government. In other words… WE the people are liable for the costs of this fiasco through the TAXES, DUTIES and FEES collected as REVENUE! D**n it… is this any less wasteful that the bull-p**s that the NDP Government put us through and told us it was lemonade?!?!?!?
Wake up voters, we wanted change but at this rate we are in for 4-8 years of more of the same. Hon. Premier, I like and respect you but this madness must stop. Hon. Vanterpool won his seat fairly by the will of the people… he had a moment of mental anguish and commited a major “brain fart” by resigning via social media and an incorrectly addressed letter… might have been drunk when he did this, considering that his team just got dismantled and humiliated at the polls. When he recovered from his hangover and probably realised what an a** he made of himself, he changed his mind. Do I like it? No! Approve of it? No! Give a cow’s tail whether he had won or lost? No! But… he did, and I respect the right of the people of the 4th who elected him.
So I am calling on sane, reasonable, responsible people who are tired of the ongoing soap opera, wasteful spending, needless drama to CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE and let them know that you elected them (and by extention their appointees (like the Speaker) to DO THE PEOPLE’S BUSINESS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY and STOP GRINDING AXES at our expense, or we will VOTE YOUR A**ES OUT just like we did the last set of jokers.
Hon. Premier Andrew Fahie
Hon. Natalio Wheatley
Hon. Carvin Malone
Hon. Kye Rhymer
Hon. Vincent Wheatley
Hon. Shereen Flax-Mars
Hon. Sherie DeCastro
Hon. Neville Smith
Hon. Mitch Turnbull
Hon. Alevera Maduro-Caines
Hon. Marlon Penn
Hon. Julian Fraser
I am calling you out…
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Well Said!!!
Perfectly stated. Every elected representative has a responsibility to publicly stand against this abuse of power, IMMEDIATELY!
I am also calling them out. They are just as guilty as that R*t F**e insane speaker.
The above names, is in on this they all voted for JW. But that is cool. All of their Political Careers will be black listed very soon. Let them all sit in the house confusion and destroy each other.
Slim Jim I cosign on this letter with you. JW is going against everything he said he would do pertaining to this dilema. Doesn’t that make him as much as a flip flopper as MV?
HERE,HERE,HERE….
We’re calling for and encouraging a renewed “positive action” movement in which we the people, we the electorate, are calling for – no, demanding the IMMEDIATE REMOVAL of this thorn-in-flesh and antagonist to fairness, to wit, the Speaker of the house.
Mr. Willock is singlehandedly holding the people of the 4th district, and by extension the people of the BVI hostage to his egotistical and selfish powerhungry desires. How abhorrent to good governance by the VIP group.
If a public “positive action” demonstration fails to have Mr. Willock replaced for his blatant disdain of the law then we must unfortunately have the new government replaced.
CALLING ON ALL DECENT FED UP PEOPLE OF THE BVI TO ASSEMBLE AND ACT.
Going down a real slippery slope. Which court is next ? The man has quite an ego !
… the minister was elected by the people unlike … who is reaping the rewards of funding n advertising (****) VIP campaign.. MY GOSH This is not what we voted for
Now i see why Andrew need body guards.allowing this type of behavior yone should need a army.
The man thinks he owns the law now. The judge ruled now go siddung and stop blowing public money. Let the elected officials get on with their work. Over this.
Hon. Fahie I am so disappointed in Willock’s behaviour. You need to step in before it’s too late. Willock need to stop wasting the tax payers’ money. Why is he trying to Jeopardize a whole party just because of his ego and arrogance?
So am I. It would not be right.I see VIP sliding down a very slippery slope next election.
We have to find à way to get JW replaced… I have no problems with this Government but JW is beginning to make things look bad for VIP. He is a huge distraction. Mr.Premier, please do the right thing.A lot of your supporters including myself, will no longer support you. Your speaker is carrying around to much baggage.
To quote Joseph de Maistre:
‘Every nation has the government it deserves’
What did people expect voting in the cookie monster Fahie to guard the cookie jar? And now he’s waltzing around with bodyguards and a new shiny hundred thousand dollar SUV.
This is real Banana Republic stuff.
Just adding my 2 cents to the well articulated posting made by a number of bloggers.
It appears that the speaker (a) has a case of temporary amnesia, (b) is delusional and (c) is totally misguided. Remember this?
“However, because this constitutional matter is weighty, it would be prudent at this juncture to seek the opinion of the courts in the interest of fairness, transparency, and best practice as the Honourable Attorney General, of whom I have the highest respect, has advised myself, the Governor and Mr Vanterpool of his position.
Let me hasten to say, that whatever the ultimate outcome, I will comply, knowing that the House of Assembly is the place where the rule of law is promoted and practice. It is the wish of the House of Assembly that this matter be resolved forthwith, taking into high consideration the will and interest of the residents of the Fourth District.”
Unfortunately, there seems to be a high level of impaired, misdirected and questionable intelligence by the speaker and his attorneys. However, if his attorneys are paid to do so, then by all means, argue foolishness on his behalf.
I am certain that these attorneys are fully aware that the matter will be lost since there is no sound basis for the appeal and Vanterpool will undoubtedly be vindicated.
Indeed, the matter should have been dealt with by the House, and not the speaker. however, his ego, coupled with ignorance and arrogance, leashed out his vengeance thus abusing the power vested by his office. Didn’t he single-handedly refused to swear in the rep despite refusing to hear any more on the matter and that the matter should be adjudicated by the courts?
The court has ruled, yet he is saying that ‘the court had no right to rule.’ The only sad thing is that the ‘public purse’ may have pay the bills, not his ‘pocket.’
Then again, if the Justice erred in that the matter should be decided by the House, why appeal for a higher court to rule? Poor Mr Speaker. You have made your bed, it’s time to sleep. Please rest your weary head meh-son.
These Lawyers seem as if they got their Law Degrees from cheapdegrees.com. This is becoming harder and harder to watch.
The ignorance of the masses are coming through. Know the laws under which you operate before you support lawlessness of a man who is blinded … Yes Mark should have think hard before he made his decision, but this has nothing to do with mark. It has to do with the s-*****r stupidity and lack of respect for the authoritative ruling of the land. You dont see the Governor not studying all you. Bunch of idiots .
To the NDP Bloggers out and about and jumping on this story line and connected…we see you – don’t think by the number of likes against the Speaker that this actually reflects the true position of the nation. I see what the Speaker is saying and I support him 100% in appealing the judgement. I think if Vanterpool really loves the people of his district and the Territory he should do what he was doing from the beginning- RETIRE!!!! so we can all peacefully call bye elections and get somebody who actually wants to represent and work for the 4th district!
I am NOT an NDP blogger. This matter is now becoming more and more personal. The Speaker has crossed the line clearly. He wanted the court to decided as the AG’s advice was not good enough for him and whoever else is behind the scenes with this. The Court has decided, is he not a man of his word? The Speaker needs to cut the nonsense and respect the wishes of the people of the 4th and the decision of the Court. The government is looking like a real sorry bunch of amateurs. Puppets with more than one Puppet Master apparently.
“The Court” has 3 levels – maybe 2 in this instance. He has a right to appeal. Tell Mark to do the honourable thing and step aside – which is what he wanted to do anyway.
is it time for the people of the 4th district to send a petition to the HOA? Enough names on a petition supporting MW would be cheaper than a bi-election
Thanks for the laugh – MW, not MV.
Yep, I was right!
It is a …. …
The court’s decision, which I might add,that was requested by the Speaker, is now unacceptable by the VIP.
Well, we shall see, what we shall see, on this one! But Mark has my support!
Here we go; Round II!
It shows that “Leadership Really Matters” . A person who the country looks up to to uphold the laws, can be so lawless and show disregard to the ruling of the Governor, the attorney General and the judge. Yet still he is expected to keep law and order in the house. Mr. Premier, i thought you were more intellectual than that. He makes the party look like a bunch of ill advise fools who do not even understand the very laws under which they operate. What a ting!! Shame on the lot of you.
What’s worst is that VIP actually think that they will win the bi-election if called. Having a bi-election a few months after swearing in and making missteps isn’t what any new administration should be wishing for. The Premier said they will be unconventional and he didn’t lie one bit.
His lawyers clearly did not do a background check and look at all the statements JW made before and whereby commits him self to abide by the court rulings. They are just collecting their money with a smile and putting their spin on things to make JW feels good knowing quite well this is a dead end road. lawyers are trained to put spins on the fact to cloud the issue, they care little about the truth. Which is the travesty of the so call modern day justice system. It is all about who can come up with a more believable spin and nothing about the truth and the facts.
Now this is pure pettiness. Isn’t the BVI subject to the fundamental principle of the Rule of Law like other democracies in the Westminster tradition? Isn’t the role of the courts to interpret, clarify and settle issues of law? It seems one man’s ego is putting the BVI at risk of degenerating into a banana republic. He should be held in contempt of court by the judge for his silly posturing. And to prove what point? MV is the choice of the people and Willock cannot stop that. It is most interesting that a man not chosen by the people but a political appointee seems so bent on frustrating the will of the people to be represented by the man they chose.
Thank You Sir/Madame, even if the speaker refuse to swear Mark in,the ones that elected Mark is still going to have his back. Mark had a moment and if we the ones who elected him is willing to forgive and move on then who are you to keep picking like a setty fowl on hatching eggs.
Please let us not slip to the level of violence an bodyguards etc.
Protest orchestrated properly is always healthy.
The boy W****** will be dooms day for Foyboy.It’s pay back time W****** /C****.This saga should not have to go this far it’s very personal between them from way beyond.On the world stage we the BVI don’t need this negative coverage.
@ SLIM JIM was it a BRAPP or a POOOH…the brain f**t…can’t stop laughing. You made my day.
Celine Dion say this is getting serious…are you thinking about you or us.
Advise to Paid bloggers; We want the money for the plane – 7.2 million and the 41 million overspent on the pier park. Maybe the 4th district representative could win and in the house of Assembly made to account for the funds.
The 2007 constitution and the House standing orders need to be amended before the 4th district representative is allowed to enter.
So foolish
Willock and Vip all the way
… He is making the VIP look so bad. If the Premier want his team to go out like that then hey, let them go out like that. I stood with VIP but,not anymore. Everyone from VIP is going down in the next election. Remember, 10 strong has already formed their Political Army to take VIP out. The good thing about the new Political Party is they have four years to plan. It is time for new and fresh blood to bring a breath of fresh air to the BVI. VIP, start putting your retirement packages together.
The … going to get kick to the surf real soon. I see the … and … on the way up and I will see them on the way down. You F**k with POWER, POWER is going to turn on you for sure.
Here is a public political measurement of a very controversal topic.
Disrgard this people’s view, “poll” at your own your own political risk.
We the people prayed for a Paul. Did we get a Saul.
Philippians 2:3
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
1 Timothy 2:1-15
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, …
Romans 13:1-14
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Lord Jesus, please I asked thee to cover our country with your blood.
What a piece of a**w**e this dude is.
You are going to soon self distruct and you are going to bring VIP along with You. You …
The premiere told Dr. Smith to Bell his Cat. I think that it is due time for him to Bell his Cat.
What I find problematic is the fact that there are a number of At Large Elected officials who have have been totally silent on this matter! Are they not concerned that they have constituents who need representation on a district level? But what can we expect they voted for the Premier’s pick for speaker under post election euphoria. Now they will watch as the voters good will slowly ebbs away.
Mr. Malone said during his budget speech that they were getting ready to welcome someone else on their side of the house referring to the 4th district seat.
You need to stop holding the people of District 4 hostage. This is not a concentration camp. We need our leader to be sworn in. As a private tax paying citizen, I am requesting that the Judge lock you up or put you on house arrest untill the date of the Apeal you filed for disobeying the Judge’s ruling.
The premier should ask the speaker to resign as he is making a mockery and playing politics with his position. An embarassment !
Theoretically, the VI has 3 branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative and executive branches are essentially morphed into one branch.. The legislative branch create laws, the executive branch carries them out and judicial branch ensures that laws are executed as designed and intended. The D-4 fiasco is a legislative branch issue and should have been handled by the legislative branch. However, once the judicial branch was invited to fix the issue that should have been addressed by the legislative branch, it needs to be played altogether, ie, appeal court, Supreme Court/Privy Council.
*
Mark Vanterpool, former MCW and D-4 rep-elect must shoulder the blame for this fiasco. Mark seemed to have lost interest in representing D-4. Some 8 days after being elected he submitted his resignation letter. He had no interest in even being sworn in. He intended to resign and behave like he had resigned. His behaviour was a disservice to D-4, the electoral process and the territory. The voters of D-4 should be given the opportunity again this year to confirm/reconfirm who they want to represent them. They may indeed want to vote Mark back in. Mark should not be afraid to face the voters again, having claimed that many asked him to come back. .
The House deciding will be a one sided affair Mr. WILLOCK. The court has decided. You said you would abide by same, now this?