Attorney General John Jeremie said yesterday his office is seeking advice on options open to the State with respect to the High Court judgment in the matter against former FIFA vice-president Dr Jack Warner.
Defence attorney:Saira Lakhan
He was responding to questions from the Sunday Express on a call from attorney Saira Lakhan for his office to appoint an independent investigation into the conduct of the Office of the Attorney General following a High Court judgment which found that the office breached its duty of candour to the courts in Warner's extradition proceedings.Jeremie stated: 'The Office is examining the comments on the behaviour of the relevant past office holders. I am taking advice on the options now open to the State. I am also taking advice on the findings in respect of those who acted for the State at the material time.'Warner won the landmark legal victory last Friday after more than a decade of extradition proceedings, with the High Court permanently halting efforts to send him to the United States.It also ruled that the State violated his constitutional rights by unlawfully pursuing the case.In a 71-page judgment, Justice Karen Reid found that the continuation of the extradition proceedings breached Warner's constitutional rights after the Authority to Proceed (ATP), which initiated the extradition process, was issued without the legal safeguards required under Trinidad and Tobago's Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act.The judge further found that the Office of the Attorney General repeatedly misled the courts by representing that a special or 'bespoke' arrangement existed between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States to protect Warner under the international 'specialty rule', when in fact no such arrangement existed.Constitutional importanceLakhan, who is also president of the Assembly of Southern Lawyers, said the findings of Justice Karen Reid raised 'issues of profound constitutional and institutional importance' that went far beyond Warner and the Attorney General, and warranted a full examination of how the failures occurred, why they persisted through several levels of the judicial system, and whether there was any professional, administrative or other misconduct.'I call upon the Attorney General to appoint an independent investigation into the conduct identified by the High Court, including the decision-making process within the Office of the Attorney General, the actions of all persons involved, and whether any professional, administrative or legal breaches occurred,' Lakhan said in a statement.Lakhan's call follows Justice Reid's judgment in Jack Warner v Attorney General, in which the court addressed the State's handling of representations concerning the existence of a specialty arrangement in Warner's extradition proceedings.She noted that the court found that the Attorney General's Office breached its duty of candour by failing, over a number of years and across multiple levels of the judicial system, to correct material misunderstandings concerning whether such a specialty arrangement existed.According to Lakhan, the judgment concluded that what began as an understandable misunderstanding eventually developed into conduct that was 'wholly inconsistent with the expected standards of candour and forthrightness' expected of the State.She also highlighted the court's description of aspects of the conduct before the Court of Appeal as 'deliberate avoidance'.
