Oral decision
Brantley and others (Appellants) v Constituency Boundaries Commission and others (Respondents)
12 February 2015
Case ID: JCPC 2015/0028
Jurisdiction: The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (St Christopher and Nevis)
This appeal related to the discharge of an interim injunction preventing the adoption of new electoral boundaries by the Prime Minister of St Christopher and Nevis. 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 8.20pm. It was therefore correct to discharge the injunction on 27 January. The appeal considered 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.
Following a hearing on 11 February 2015 the Board will humbly advise Her Majesty that the appeal should be allowed; that the orders made by Madame Justice Carter on 27th January 2015 and by the Court of Appeal on 5th February 2015 be set aside and that the interim injunction granted by Madame Justice Carter on 16th January 2015 be restored.
Full written reasons will follow in due course
View the Oral Decision being delivered by the Board here.