British Queen's Counsel, Alan Newman, who represented Basdeo Panday at his trial on three charges of failing to declare his London bank account to the Integrity Commission in 2006, is now in the corner of Chaguanas West MP, Jack Warner, preparing to file a slander writ against Panday. Newman arrived in Trinidad yesterday afternoon and was met at Piarco International Airport by Warner, the first vice-president of Fifa. Warner has brought Newman to Trinidad to prepare documents and to launch the legal challenge to allegations made by Panday on a radio programme last week.
Newman is no stranger to Trinidad and Tobago. He has represented local parties before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on six occasions. The most notable was his representation of Panday before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls in March 2006 when the Leader of the Opposition went on trial on three charges of knowingly failing to declare his Natwest bank account in Wimbledon, London, to the Integrity Commission for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. Panday was found guilty on April 24, 2006, and sentenced to two years in prison. Newman was not involved in the appeal as Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC appeared in the Court of Appeal which quashed the conviction and set aside the sentence on the ground of apparent bias by the Chief Magistrate.
The Court of Appeal ordered a retrial, but Panday challenged this in the Privy Council. In London, Panday was represented by Richard Clayton QC. The Law Lords ordered Panday to face a second trial, but he has filed a judicial review case challenging the retrial.
Newman was called to the British Bar in 1968 and made a Queen's Counsel in 1989. He specialises in judicial review, extradition and commercial law. He has appeared in the Caribbean in several high profile cases. In 2006, he represented the Maha Sabha in their battle with the Government over the delay by the State in granting a broadcast licence to Central Broadcasting Services Limited. Newman also represented the 18 United National Congress (UNC) Members of Parliament who did not receive their salaries following the 18-18 tie of 2001.
The Privy Council ruled that the MPs were entitled to their salaries from the day after the general elections, once they had taken their oaths of allegiance. Even before he appeared for Panday in the integrity trial, Newman represented the Couva North MP in a constitutional motion in the Privy Council in which he contended that Panday was charged under the 1987 Integrity in Public Life Act, which was repealed by the 2000 Act. He lost that case. He successfully represented two police officers, Eusebio Cooper and Clifford Balbosa, against the Director of Personnel Administration on the issue of promotions. He is also on record as appearing in the 1994 Privy Council case of Commercial Finance Company Limited versus Ramsingh Mahabir, as well as Hearde v Mahabir Singh, a 1992 Privy Council case–both matters dealing with retrenchment.