Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall SC on Monday said the Parliamentary Opposition owes significant sums of money that were awarded as costs following several unsuccessful cases they filed.
Because the sums owed have not been paid, though mandated by several Courts, Nandlall said he will be exploring measures to enforce the cost orders.
Nandlall was speaking to reporters at the High Court after Justice Navendra Singh dismissed a case filed against the legality of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act.
The case was brought by Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones and trade unionist Norris Whitter. On Monday, Justice Singh dismissed the case and awarded $250,000 in costs to each defendant against each claimant. These are to be paid on or before July 19, 2023.
And Nandlall said enforcement measures to get these sums owed have now become necessary.
“I now have a pile of them because it is a series of cases that have been filed by the Opposition and all have been lost… from the Elections petition come right down.
“I mean when you file these frivolous, vexatious matters and the court expresses its displeasure in orders for costs, it must be paid,” Nandlall said.
Asked what measures can be taken to get the monies owed, the Attorney General said one option includes the seizure of the claimants’ movable and immovable assets.
He also noted that those who fail to pay can be imprisoned if it can be proven that they are able to pay the costs but are deliberately deflecting.
A third option, Nandlall said, is to engage those persons’ employers and get the sums owed.
Importantly, the Attorney General said he has been engaging members of the opposition on paying the monies owed to no avail.
Nandlall reminded reporters that in March, he wrote to the eight suspended Opposition Members of Parliament who were involved in the seizure of the Speaker’s Mace and parliamentary disruptions and lawyer Roysdale Forde after the High Court refused to overturn their suspension.
He pointed out then that more than a month after the due date, the costs awarded are yet to be paid. The eight MPs were ordered to pay costs to the respondents in the sum of $350, 000 each by February 06, 2023.
Nandlall on Monday said those sums have still not been paid.
“I have written letters of demand as I am required to do and those have been ignored,” he lamented.
