Jamaica Teachers Association v Georgia Richards
| Jurisdiction | Jamaica |
| Judge | Brooks JA |
| Judgment Date | 20 August 2014 |
| Neutral Citation | JM 2014 CA 84 |
| Docket Number | APPEAL NO 72/2014 APPLICATION NO 145/2014 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Jamaica) |
| Date | 20 August 2014 |
[2014] JMCA App 28
JAMAICA
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL SUPREME COURT CIVIL
APPEAL NO 72/2014
APPLICATION NO 145/2014
CIVIL PROCEDURE - Order fror disclosure - Costs
Considered on paper pursuant to rule 2.10(3) of the Court of Appeal Rules
On 19 August 2014, Campbell J granted an injunction restraining the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) ‘from proclaiming, declaring or affirming Mr Norman Allen as its President Elect for 2014 until further order’. The JTA contends that the learned judge erred in this decision. It has, therefore, filed an appeal seeking to have this court discharge the injunction. It faces a particular difficulty however. The investiture of the president-elect is scheduled to take place on or before 23 August 2014, but the court is presently on its long vacation, which will last until 22 September 2014. In this application, the JTA requests that the court breaks its vacation to hear the appeal or, in the alternative, hears it during September 2014.
The dispute leading to the appeal arises from a contested election held in July 2014 for the post of president-elect of the JTA. The contestants included Mrs Georgia Waugh Richards and Mr Norman Allen. In the initial count of the ballots, done on 1 July, Mrs Waugh Richards was said to have secured the greatest number of votes, having amassed 6,079 votes. Her nearest competitor was Mr Allen who had secured 83 votes less, namely 5,996 votes. She was, therefore, preliminarily declared the winner of the contest.
Mr Allen requested a recount of the votes and the recount was conducted by the Electoral Office of Jamaica on 18 July. The result of that exercise was a reversal of fortunes. Mr Allen was found to be the leading candidate with 5,977 votes while Mrs Waugh Richards secured only 5,798 votes. The reduction in the number of votes in her favour led Mrs Waugh Richards to file a claim in the Supreme Court and to make the application for the injunction that Campbell J granted.
The current president of the JTA, Dr Mark Nicely, swore to an affidavit of urgency in support of the present application. In his affidavit he indicated that the JTA's annual conference will be held between 21 and 23 August 2014, and that during the conference the change in officers is scheduled to take place. That change involves, he deposed, the present president-elect becoming the president, the present president becoming the immediate past president and the victor of the July election being invested as the president-elect for the ensuing year.
Dr Nicely stressed the importance of the post of president-elect and contended that unless the post is filled during this year's change-over of the officers, the JTA will suffer serious dislocation. At paragraph 17 of his affidavit, Dr Nicely said, in part:
‘…The absence of the President-Elect is not merely incidental. It is critical to the JTA and forces the onset of other circumstances which overall undermine our ability to protect the union interests of our 24,000 members. In particular, the operations of the JTA will be severely affected and the ability to effectively carry out its functions greatly diminished as there [will be] no person occupying one of the critical posts within the JTA for the smooth execution of its functions. Indeed it is the [President] Elect that carries out the administrative and executive duties of the President in the latter's absence, as customarily the President is required to frequently travel overseas to execute his duties. Therefore, the operations of the JTA would be in effect halted if a President Elect is not in place.’
Dr Nicely deposed that the JTA would immediately be faced with those challenges if the president-elect is not invested by 23 August 2014. He said that all those matters were brought to the learned judge's attention when the matter of the balance of convenience was being canvassed before him.
Although the court's long vacation runs from 1 August to the Monday after 16 September in any year, rule 1.4(2) of the Court of Appeal Rules (CAR) allows the court to sit during vacations. Applications for such a sitting may be considered by a single judge of the court, but it is necessary for the applicant to demonstrate that it is urgent that the matter in dispute be heard.
The prerequisite of urgency for the court to sit during vacations, particularly the long vacation, has a long history. The reason for court vacations and the results that vacations were intended to achieve were explained by Chambers J, in his informative work, Essays on the Jamaican Legal System. He pointed out, at page 129, that business during the long vacation is restricted to urgent matters. In the course of his analysis, he cited Re Showerings, Vine Products and Whiteways Ltd [1968] 3 All ER 276 as demonstrating the judicial approach to this issue. The issue was also considered in Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Dawn Property Co Ltd [1973] 3 All ER 181 and was more recently assessed in Ocean Chimo Limited v RBTT Bank Jamaica Limited and Another 2010 HCV 02413 (delivered 23 August 2011).
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Rohan James v Andrew Lewis
...as the basis for the hearing of matters in the long vacation in the case of Jamaica Teachers Association v Georgia Waugh Richards [2014] JMCA App 28. 15 The question then resounds, is the application of the applicant for leave to appeal the refusal of the learned judge to grant a temporary ......