Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan has secured what is being described as a “landmark” constitutional victory in Dominica.
In a judgment delivered by Dominica’s High Court, the court ruled that the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Sylvanie Burton, misinterpreted Section 66(2) of the Constitution when she excluded the support of four Opposition Senators from consideration in determining who should be appointed Leader of the Opposition.
It came after the resignation of then Opposition Leader Jesma Paul-Victor in June 2024.
The case was brought by Dominica’s former Opposition Leader Lennox Linton and successfully argued by Senior Counsel Ramlogan.
The judge’s finding was that the President’s actions violated the Constitution, saying that “The failure of the President to recognise and/or take into account the support of the four Senators in determining who should be appointed Leader of the Opposition following the resignation of Ms Jesma Paul-Victor was unconstitutional.”
Mr Linton said the State’s lawyers argued that appointed Senators had no constitutional role in the selection process, an argument the court ultimately rejected.
“The Government had moved early on to have the case struck out on the grounds that, first of all, I had no standing in the matter. And actually, I was described by the Attorney General in their defence as someone having a public record of meddlesome interloping, masked under the guise of legitimate concern. They claimed that my interest was fanciful, it was abstract, and it lacked the proximity and the specificity necessary to establish standing. That objection, fortunately, was rejected by the court.”
In rejecting the State’s position, the court ruled that excluding the Senators was inconsistent with the Constitution itself, noting that “to exclude the four Senators from consideration would be inconsistent with the Constitutional definition of membership of the House and would fail to give effect to the plain language employed by the framers of the Constitution.”
Mr Linton said the outcome represents a victory for all Dominicans who believe in Constitutional government and democratic accountability.
“It belongs to every Dominican who believes that the public power must be exercised lawfully, that opposition has an indispensable role in our democracy, and the Constitution must always remain superior to political convenience, executive preference, and partisan manoeuvring. So, this victory is one for the Constitution. Democracy won, accountability won.”
The judgment also clarified that Opposition Senators must be considered when the President is determining who commands support within the parliamentary opposition.
He also praised Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan and the Freedom Law Chambers legal team for successfully arguing the Constitutional challenge.
“We’re very fortunate, in my view, to have the services of the Freedom Law Chambers in Trinidad and Tobago, Anand Ramlogan, Senior there, along with Jared Jagroo and Vishal Siewsaran. They were the attorneys who represented us in this matter and they did a wonderful job in bringing the case to the court and preparing it well and arguing it most effectively in the court.”
The court made no order as to costs, although Mr Linton says an appeal on that aspect of the ruling remains under consideration.