{"id":6019,"date":"2012-01-09T10:10:39","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T14:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=6019"},"modified":"2023-05-09T08:26:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T12:26:39","slug":"of-silkworms-and-maggots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=6019","title":{"rendered":"Of Silkworms and Maggots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Prime<\/a>
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar receives her Senior Counsel appointment from President George Maxwell Richards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Michael Harris
\nJanuary 08, 2012 – trinidadexpress.com<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

What is the difference between a silkworm and a maggot? This is the question which popped into my head as I reflected on the current controversy which has erupted over the recent appointment of senior counsel. Frankly I did not think that there was anything salient which could be added to the debate after the cogent and comprehensive submissions made by Messrs Hudson-Phillips SC and former CJ Michael de la Bastide.<\/p>\n

I changed my mind, however, after reading the brilliantly lucid summation of the issues presented by Terrence Farrell in his article in the Express<\/i><\/a> on January 5. It often happens that a particularly lucid exposition on any topic can serve to excite new and additional insights which help to develop the issue further.
\n
\nI consider it useful to explore two of the points made by Dr Farrell. The first point was that he considered it “deplorable that the Attorney General and the Prime Minister, who are at the heart and pinnacle of the process for the award of “silk”, should confer the award on themselves.” He went on to state that “The precedent set in this regard, allegedly by ANR Robinson and by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, should have been regarded as bad precedent for being self-serving and not followed.”<\/p>\n

Dr Farrell is absolutely correct in his assessment. But it should certainly come as no surprise to him or to anyone who has been observing how this Government operates that the AG and the PM were unable to resist the temptation to be self-serving. <\/p>\n

Nothing so characterises the brazen effrontery of this government than the spectacle of the AG, interviewed by the media after the award presentation, stating with a straight face that “he was humbled” to receive the award, an award which he had clearly conferred on himself.<\/p>\n

This episode is but the latest in a series of actions, starting with the Reshmi affair and continuing all the way to the alleged “assassination plot”, which demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Government is bereft of any concept of standards, of ethics, of values or of morality. Almost from the moment they came to office, theirs has been a drunken joy-ride through the corridors of state, one in which they have ridden roughshod over persons, reputations, institutions and principles of good conduct.<\/p>\n

Indeed this is not a government here but a prolonged orgy of chicanery and corruption, a revelry of maggots feeding mindlessly and ravenously on the putrescence they create.<\/p>\n

Dr Farrell makes another very germane point when he writes that “this latest is yet another example of a society whose elite is by and large insecure and unresponsible\u2026\u2026. There is almost a desperation about attaining status and recognition that leads persons to disregard or rationalise obvious conflicts of interest and to pursue self-serving agendas.”<\/p>\n

And it is in the context of this observation that we must consider the other important issue arising from this affair, which is the fact that Chief Justice Ivor Archie was awarded and accepted “silk” (along with Justice Kangaloo). It is clear from their submissions that both Mr Hudson-Phillips and Mr de la Bastide see this as the most troubling aspect of this entire affair. Indeed another commentator, Martin Daly SC, has described it as “shocking” and likens it to “driving a donkey cart through the separation of powers”.<\/p>\n

If the award of “silk” to the CJ is such an egregious “aberration” (to use Mr de la Bastide’s word), two questions naturally arise. The first is why was the award offered in the first place, and the second question is why was it accepted? The CJ’s actions bear some further consideration before ascribing them to the lust for status.<\/p>\n

In my respectful view, ever since his elevation to that office, Chief Justice Archie, has distinguished himself, not so much in terms of his legal opinions, which I am in no position to judge, but in terms of his judicious conduct and his willingness to forthrightly defend the independence and reputation of the judiciary every time it seemed to be threatened.<\/p>\n

If my assessment of the character of the man is correct then what has happened simply does not make sense. It is therefore instructive that the only statement coming from Chief Justice Archie thus far is to the effect that he did not apply for silk, nor was his name mentioned in his discussions with the AG on possible candidates.<\/p>\n

We would need further information, particularly with regard to when CJ Archie first knew that the award was to be conferred on him, to make a definitive statement, but the indications are that the Chief Justice was blindsided and was only made aware that he was to be a recipient at a point in time when to have refused to appear or to accept the award would have seemed to be churlish and disrespectful to the President and may well have created an even greater controversy.<\/p>\n

If this is so, then the answer to the second question must be that the Chief Justice accepted the award out of a sense of civility and decorum, knowing full well that at the appropriate time he would have to return those instruments to the President. In this respect I sincerely hope that I am right for the implications, if I am not, are truly frightening.<\/p>\n

The answer to the first question however poses no difficulty. The names of the Chief Justice (and Justice Kangaloo) were included in the list of recipients by the PM and the AG who saw what they perceived to be an opportunity to create a sense of obligation and favour on the part of key members of the judiciary.<\/p>\n

I do not even think that we need go so far as to ascribe to their action a deliberate attempt to subvert the independence of the judiciary, although that certainly is one potential consequence of their action. By the way, the difference between a silkworm and a maggot is that the former secretes silk while the latter produces only excrement. <\/p>\n

Source: trinidadexpress.com<\/a><\/i> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Harris January 08, 2012 – trinidadexpress.com What is the difference between a silkworm and a maggot? This is the question which popped into my head as I reflected on the current controversy which has erupted over the recent appointment of senior counsel. Frankly I did not think that there was anything salient which … Continue reading Of Silkworms and Maggots<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,186,396,7],"tags":[394,502,393,120,187,144,727,367,551,567,1015,41,216,725,49,731],"class_list":["post-6019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-law","category-peoples-partnership","category-politics","tag-anand-ramlogan","tag-arthur-nr-robinson","tag-attorney-general","tag-george-maxwell-richards","tag-ivor-archie","tag-kamla-persad-bissessar","tag-karl-hudson-phillips","tag-martin-daly","tag-michael-de-la-bastide","tag-michael-harris","tag-politics","tag-president","tag-ramesh-lawrence-maharaj","tag-senior-counsel","tag-tt-govt","tag-terrence-farrell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6019"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55660,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019\/revisions\/55660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}