Forty attorneys have sent a requisition to the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT), calling for a special general meeting to debate and vote on a motion of no-confidence against Attorney General Reginald Armour. The requisition was hand-delivered to the LATT’s Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain office just before it closed at 4 pm on Wednesday.
The requisition calls for a special general meeting to debate and vote on a no-confidence motion in the AG.
There have been numerous calls for Armour to resign after he was disqualified by a Miami court from representing this country in a civil matter directly tied to the Piarco International Airport fraud case.
A petition to disqualify Armour and the US law firm Sequor Law was filed by one of the defendants—Brian Kuei Tung. He argued that Armour could have shared sensitive attorney-client information he (Armour) would have gleaned while representing him and his then-girlfriend Renee Pierre in the preliminary inquiry for the Piarco Airport criminal matter in T&T between 2003 and 2008.
Yesterday, attorney Rhea Khan delivered the requisition on behalf of attorney Kiel Taklalsingh. Khan opted not to make a statement to Guardian Media.
Guardian Media obtained a copy of the cover letter sent with the requisition.
“Some of my colleagues and I have taken note of the allegations being made against the Attorney General in the public domain and we are of the respectful view that same should be ventilated at a special general meeting covered specifically for such purpose,” Taklalsingh wrote in the letter.
“Respectfully, these allegations, if left unaddressed, have the potential to erode public confidence in our profession, the administration of justice and the Rule of Law.”
Taklalsingh asked that a copy of the petition be forwarded to Armour.
He said documents related to the requisition were also contained in it.
Attorney General Reginald Armour.
NICOLE DTAYTON
The Requisition
The requisition quotes Rule 23 of the First Schedule part A of the Legal Profession Act.
That section states: “23. (1) Any twenty-five practitioner members of the Association may at any time requisition a Special general meeting by written notice signed by them stating the objects of the meeting and served on the president, vice-president or secretary of the association.”
The requisition calls for the members of LATT to consider and pass a motion of no-confidence in Armour and to call on him to immediately resign from his post as AG.
It goes on to note that Armour is the titular head of the bar of T&T and is required to be “honest and forthright in the conduct of public affairs.”
It says as the constitutional representative of the State, Armour has a duty to ensure he does not mislead a court of law in this jurisdiction or any other.
“There has arisen in the public domain serious allegations against the Honourable Attorney General of dishonesty, conduct unbecoming of an Attorney at Law and actions which have brought the office of the Attorney General into disrepute. These allegations are serious enough to undermine public confidence in the legal profession,” the requisition states.
It also summarises the petition raised against Armour by Kuei Tung in the Miami court and his affidavit in response, in which he stated he played the role of a junior attorney in Kuei Tung’s matter.
“Mr Armour’s representations are, however, patently false. They are demonstrably false given the affidavit evidence in the US proceedings, well known facts in the public domain and matters reported in the media which are materially undisputed,” the requisition states.
It adds that given the nature of the criminal charges against Kuei Tung, it was “not plausible” that an attorney acting in that case would not have remembered their role.
The requisition lists the resolution to be voted on.
“It is hereby resolved that the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago expresses no confidence in the Honourable Attorney General, Mr Reginald Amour SC and calls upon him to resign forthwith,” it states.
Senior Counsel Martin Daly
ANISTO ALVES
Daly: Armour cannot remain silent
Former Law Association president, Senior Counsel Martin Daly, does not believe AG Armour can continue to remain silent on this matter.
“In my view, silence is not an option when a Cabinet member’s acts or omissions in the discharge of his public functions require accountability to the public, the Cabinet member cannot remain silent. It raises the question of political accountability and institutional trust in the office of the Attorney General and the Government as a whole if he remains silent,” Daly said yesterday.
Daly has numerous questions about Armour’s sworn testimony to the Miami court. He said among those was whether the public and the court in Miami have been given full disclosure by the AG.
As for the motion of no-confidence, Daly said it may not have “inevitable consequences” but it does carry weight.
“A democracy can’t function without clear expressions of public opinion, so in so far as a body or a group of people express a lack of confidence in something or they express any opinion, that opinion is supposed to count in the functioning of a democracy and it is supposed to weigh on the mind of the person receiving the motion as to whether they going in the right direction, whether they need to change course, whether they need to change teams so it’s not a futile gesture,” Daly said.