ATTORNEY GENERAL URGES CLAIMANTS TO ACCEPT PRIVY COUNCIL RULING ON PARADISE FOUND ACT

Attorney General Hon. Steadroy Benjamin has called on the claimants in the appeal against the constitutionality of the Paradise Found Act to accept the ruling of the country’s highest court.
He says that’s because they were the ones who had initiated the case and had argued they would not have been satisfied until it was litigated at the level of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
AG Benjamin, against whom the claim had been brought, said he was not surprised by the ruling in favour of the Government, as he noted the law is pellucidly clear on the matter of lands in Barbuda.
Meanwhile, Barbuda Member of Parliament Hon. Trevor Walker says he is disappointed with the Privy Council decision.
The MP convened a town hall meeting in Barbuda on Tuesday to discuss the development and next steps with constituents.
On Monday, the country’s London-based highest appellate court dismissed the appeal by Walker and Mckenzie Frank who had claimed their constitutional rights were breached by the 2015 legislation.
However, the ruling stated: “the claimants have no realistic prospect of succeeding in their claim under section 9(1) of the Constitution, so that the court of appeal was correct to strike out that claim. The board will therefore humbly advise her Majesty that the appeal should be dismissed.”