The Supreme Court is set to deliver its judgment on Friday, April 19, on whether the move by the Government to amend the Constitution to extend the tenures of Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn and Auditor General (AuG) Pamela Monroe Ellis is constitutional.
The judgment is expected to be handed down at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Lawyers representing the People’s National Party (PNP) filed a lawsuit in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court in August challenging the move by the Government to use its majority in Parliament to pass a bill on Tuesday, July 25, to extend the retirement ages of the AuG and the DPP from age 60 to 65, with a possible extension to 70.
The PNP said its members were unaware of the bill’s contents before the sitting of Parliament and were only made aware when it was tabled. It further argued that despite its objection, the Government debated and passed the bill on the same day it was tabled.
The claimants of the lawsuit, Phillip Paulwell, member of Parliament for Kingston Eastern and Port Royal and Senator Peter Bunting, contended that the recent extension was “enacted for an improper purpose and is therefore inconsistent with the Constitution, null and void”.
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