00:14Good night, everyone. So we're outside Golden Grove Prison. As you are all aware, at 2.40pm, the court of
00:21appeal, full court of appeal, that is the three judges that sat this evening, the president was Mr. Justice of
00:26Appeal, Peter Rajkumar,
00:28Madam Justice of Appeal, Miradine Amara, and Madam Justice of Appeal, Madam Joan Charles. They granted immediate release of our
00:40clients, Mr. Dominic Hadid and Ms. Genevieve Hadid. And by immediate, I mean immediate. Those orders were served on the
00:47Commission of Prisons, and as you saw, I came here to attend upon the immediate release of our clients.
00:55Unfortunately, what happened was, they just simply refused to release them. Not by an overt statement, but the statements from
01:04the officers on the inside knew that they had no authorization.
01:08We made several attempts to contact all relevant persons, attorneys at law, for the Minister of Homeland Security, the Commission
01:15of Prisons, everyone.
01:17Suffice it to say that you saw the police come and go. There were special branch officers that came here.
01:23They, too, were taken away.
01:24And the state brought an urgent application before the court of appeal tonight, seeking leave to go to the Privy
01:32Council and asking for a stay of the judgment of the full court of appeal, which sat today.
01:37We just appeared before Mr. Justice Mohammed, Mr. Justice Rahim, and those of course, judges of appeal, and led by
01:49the Honourable Chief Justice.
01:50And we had a hearing. I was online with that hearing.
01:54And the Honourable Chief Justice has granted the matter to carry over to tomorrow at 3 p.m. when we
02:01go to the full court of appeal.
02:03And they have permitted me access to my clients now, since 9.45, but as you've seen, no one has
02:11opened the door.
02:12So the Honourable Chief Justice directed that I'd be permitted access to my clients.
02:17It's now 10 p.m. and the gates are yet to be opened.
02:22So this matter is just out of courtesy for the media who has been here all night long wondering what's
02:27going on.
02:28And of course, I respect your diligence as the fourth estate.
02:31The matter is under consideration by the court of appeal.
02:34The state has been granted leave to go to the Privy Council.
02:39And therefore, we'll be taking our arguments in relation to the state tomorrow at 3 p.m.
02:45before the full court with the president being the Honourable Chief Justice.
02:50Okay, so that's the best that I can give you for now.
02:52I just didn't want to see you standing here for much longer.
02:56So I propose, as soon as they open the gates of the prison, to go in and take instructions so
03:01that we can deal with this matter in court tomorrow.
03:04Now, you mentioned both the court of appeal and the Privy Council.
03:10Is it at the Privy Council or the second full hearing tomorrow?
03:15So, second will be the Privy Council, depending on what is ruled by the court of appeal.
03:21So, the application that's on tomorrow is whether a stay should be permitted of the judgment that came today
03:29from the president being Mr. Justice of Appeal, Peter Rajkumar.
03:33That's what's going to be heard tomorrow at 3 p.m.
03:36We already have a judgment of the court of appeal of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago granting them the
03:42immediate release.
03:43The question is whether that ought to be stayed pending the outcome of the Privy Council's consideration of the matter.
03:51And that matter is going to come up tomorrow at 3 p.m.
03:56for argument and for consideration by the panel presiding, of course, would be Mr. Justice.
04:03Forgive me, the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice, who will be sitting in my lap.
04:06Okay?
04:07So, those are the moving parts.
04:10And, you know, it's back up due to say, so let's proceed through the courts.
04:16And based on the experience, how long would the matter take to get before the Privy Council panel?
04:23That's going to be a matter that I can't predict right now.
04:28The Privy Council term ends this month.
04:30So, it would depend upon whether the Privy Council hears this matter urgently or not.
04:35So, there are a few moving parts in that equation.
04:38And no word of the law is still applied for that early urgently?
04:43So, they've just got the appeal, a couple months ago, from the Court of Appeal.
04:47The Court of Appeal sat tonight.
04:49And we consented.
04:51There was an appeal as of right in any event.
04:54So, we didn't stand in the way of that appeal.
04:56That appeal has been, the appeal to the Judicial Committee has been granted.
05:00The full matter has been considered.
05:03So, that will take its process right now.
05:05And one can only hope that the matter is heard with urgency at the Privy Council.
05:11Okay?
05:12Thank you, Dukes.
05:14Thank you all very much.
05:15Thanks for your patience.
05:16Thank you so much for your...
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