Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A businessman from San Juan has agreed to withdraw his lawsuit over delays in deciding his firearm user’s licence (FUL) application after Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher agreed to render a decision within six months.
In April, the businessman, whose name was withheld based on the request of his attorneys over safety concerns, filed a judicial review case over the delay. When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, his lawyers, led by Kiel Taklalsingh, and those for Harewood-Christopher presented a consent order to settle the case.
The order was considered and approved by Justice Frank Seepersad. According to his court filings, obtained by Guardian Media, the businessman first applied for an FUL in 2010.
In June 2021, he was granted a provisional FUL. The following month, he completed a mandatory firearms training course and obtained a certificate of competence. In September 2023, the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Firearms Permit Unit contacted the businessman and told him that the certificate had been received and he was being investigated.
However, he was told that “some critical aspects were not covered” to allow the commissioner to make a decision.
The case is one of many recent lawsuits filed by FUL applicants who challenged delays in rendering decisions in relation to them.
In March, Justice Nadia Kangaloo ordered Harewood-Christopher to decide on 17 FUL applications that had been pending for two years or more, as she upheld a similar case to the one brought by the businessman.
Her decision in their case came almost two months after she upheld an identical lawsuit from 33 applicants.
In late March, Justice Frank Seepersad upheld a similar case from a Tobago businessman over an almost three-year delay in deciding his FUL application.