Brantley and others (Appellants) v Constituency Boundaries Commission and others (Respondents) (St Christopher and Nevis)
Case ID: JCPC 2015/0003
Jurisdiction: The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (St Christopher and Nevis)
Case summary
Issue
Whether the Court of Appeal was correct to uphold the discharge of an interim injunction preventing the adoption of new electoral boundaries by the Prime Minister of St Christopher and Nevis.
Facts
By a proclamation on 16 January 2015, the Governor General of St Christopher and Nevis sought to adopt new electoral constituency boundaries shortly before elections due to take place on 16 February 2015. An interim injunction was granted by the High Court on the same day to prevent such a proclamation being made and was set aside on 27 January 2015 on the grounds that the proclamation had been made before the issue of the injunction and was therefore useless. The Court of Appeal upheld the discharge of the interim injunction. It held that the proclamation had been approved by the National Assembly and was made immediately before the election to ensure that a representative's constituency did not change during the course of his parliamentary term. The proclamation was made at 6.20pm whereas the injunction was granted at 7.38pm and served on the Attorney General at approximately 8.20 pm. It was therefore correct to discharge the injunction on 27 January.
Parties
Appellants
- Mark Brantley (in his personal capacity and as a representative of the Concerned Citizens Movement)
- Timothy Harris (in his personal capacity and as a representative of the People’s Labour Party)
- Sam Condor (in his personal capacity and as a representative of the People’s Labour Party)
- Shawn Richards (in his personal capacity and as a representative of the People’s Action Movement)
Respondents
- Constituency Boundaries Commission
- Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Christopher and Nevis
- Attorney General of St Christopher and Nevis (as representative of the Governor General)
Appeal
Justices
Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke, Lord Reed, Lord Hodge
Hearing start date
11 Feb 2015
Hearing finish date
11 Feb 2015
Oral decision given
12 Feb 2015 - Decision details
| Watch hearing | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11 Feb 2015 | Morning session | Afternoon session |