{"id":169739,"date":"2023-03-01T15:52:22","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=169739"},"modified":"2023-03-01T15:52:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:52:22","slug":"barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbados: Court says ban on public officers in politics inconsistent with constitutional rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A High Court judge has struck down a regulation that prohibited all public servants from actively participating in politics, ruling it unconstitutional.<\/p>

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Justice Westmin James said on Tuesday that\u00a0General Order 3.18.1<\/b>\u00a0is also \u201cinconsistent\u201d with the rights to freedom of expression and association which are enshrined in the Constitution of Barbados.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regulation is overly broad, disproportionate and cannot be reasonably justified in a free and democratic society,\u201d he added.<\/p>

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In an immediate reaction, Attorney General Dale Marshall told\u00a0Barbados TODAY<\/b>\u00a0that when he is able to properly study the decision, he will \u201cadvise Cabinet of the import of the decision and make recommendations on how we should amend the regulations\u201d.<\/p>

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\u201cWe now have to consider as a matter of policy how the matter should be approached,\u201d he said.Justice James made the declaration in a 13-page judgment as he ruled in favour of temporary household facilitator in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Natalie Murray who had sought constitutional relief after disciplinary action was contemplated against her after she spoke on a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) platform during the 2022 general election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He also ruled that any disciplinary proceedings brought against Murray be \u201cpermanently stayed\u201d.<\/p>

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Through her lawyers, prominent attorney Gregory Nicholls and counsel Kashawn Wood, Murray had challenged the constitutionality of the provision in the\u00a0General Orders<\/b>\u00a0that forbids public officers and employees from participating actively in politics, including speaking at political meetings.<\/p>\n

She contended that it was a breach of her constitutional rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association under Sections 20 and 21 of the Constitution of Barbados, respectively.<\/p>

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In a letter dated March 8, 2022, signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Murray was informed that a disciplinary report was submitted regarding her appearance as a speaker on the political platform of the BLP on January 6 and 16, 2022. She was told that her actions were in breach of the General Orders and the\u00a0Public Service Act Code of Discipline<\/b>.<\/p>

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Murray accepted that she appeared on the BLP\u2019s political platform and admitted that she had been an active member of the party for over 20 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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However, she contended that her participation in political activity had never hindered her effectiveness as a social worker or community organiser.<\/p>\n

In his ruling, Justice James said that the regulation was not reasonably required for the proper performance of public officers\u2019 functions in the context of any of the permissible limitations prescribed by Sections 20 and 21 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

He further referred to the particular General Order as a \u201cblanket restriction\u201d.<\/p>\n

General Order 3.18.1<\/b>\u00a0states that officers and employees are expressly forbidden to participate actively in politics, including being adopted as a parliamentary candidate, canvassing on behalf of any party or candidate; acting as agents or sub-agents of any candidate for election; holding office in party political organisations; and speaking at political meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is plain to the Court that\u00a0General Order 3.18.1<\/b>\u00a0is a sweeping, blanket ban, permitting of no exceptions. The restriction is absolute and universal to all public servants from lower level public servants . . . to the highest rank public servant. This sort of blanket restriction does not satisfy the qualification in the Constitution that the restriction be reasonably required for the proper performance of their function. It is therefore inconsistent with the general right guaranteed by freedom of expression and association,\u201d Justice James said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the circumstances, I hold that\u00a0General Order 3.18.1<\/b>\u00a0has not satisfied the criterion of being reasonably required as it is disproportionate in not distinguishing between classes of civil servants as to the restraints imposed on freedom of expression and\/or the types of political activity. It is therefore void for unconstitutionality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As a result, the judge said the charge brought against Murray was \u201can invalid charge\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt amounts to a hindrance to her right to freedom of expression and association guaranteed under Sections 20 and 21 of the Barbados Constitution and is an improper and invalid restriction upon her as a lower-level public officer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Also included in Justice James\u2019 ruling was that costs associated with Murray\u2019s claim for constitutional relief be assessed, if not agreed.<\/p>\n

Last year, two teachers \u2013 Alwyn Babb and Pedro Shepherd \u2013 faced disciplinary action after contesting the 2022 general elections on a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) ticket.<\/p>\n

Pointing out that the State will now have to revisit the regulations, Nicholls told\u00a0Barbados TODAY<\/b>: \u201cI would say there should be no unbridled celebration that in the absence of these regulations there would be a free-for-all.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment would have to tailor the appropriate regulations, as suggested by the court, and the legal authorities which we submitted to the court for review and consideration\u2026you are going to have to look at these things. The main argument is that you can\u2019t have blanket restrictions on public officers who participate in politics,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

The Attorney General, against whose office the action was brought, said while has not yet had an opportunity to study Justice James\u2019 reasoning, he is not surprised by his ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the jurisprudence on Caribbean constitutions continues to develop, we will see many of the long held thinking on rights and freedoms being modified or even being rejected outright. Such has been the case with the mandatory death penalty, buggery laws and now public service regulations,\u201d he told\u00a0Barbados TODAY<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, it is a signal to us that the time is ripe for the Constitution Reform Commission to conduct its analysis on the provisions of our Constitution and, among other things, to measure our laws in the light of judicial decisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the first case in the region where similar prohibition of public servants becoming involved in the political process has been ruled to be unconstitutional so I would not say that I am entirely surprised at the ruling,\u201d the Government\u2019s chief legal adviser added.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A High Court judge has struck down a regulation that prohibited all public servants from actively participating in politics, ruling it unconstitutional. Justice Westmin James said on Tuesday that\u00a0General Order 3.18.1\u00a0is also \u201cinconsistent\u201d with the rights to freedom of expression and association which are enshrined in the Constitution of Barbados. \u201cThe regulation is overly broad, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":169741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"\nBarbados: Court says ban on public officers in politics inconsistent with constitutional rights - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barbados: Court says ban on public officers in politics inconsistent with constitutional rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A High Court judge has struck down a regulation that prohibited all public servants from actively participating in politics, ruling it unconstitutional. Justice Westmin James said on Tuesday that\u00a0General Order 3.18.1\u00a0is also \u201cinconsistent\u201d with the rights to freedom of expression and association which are enshrined in the Constitution of Barbados. \u201cThe regulation is overly broad, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T19:52:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/NICHOLLS-e1677688608189.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"362\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Barbados: Court says ban on public officers in politics inconsistent with constitutional rights\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-01T19:52:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-01T19:52:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/\"},\"wordCount\":985,\"commentCount\":10,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:650\/h:362\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/NICHOLLS-e1677688608189.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-court-says-ban-on-public-officers-in-politics-inconsistent-with-constitutional-rights\/\",\"name\":\"Barbados: Court says ban on public officers in politics inconsistent with constitutional rights - 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