A legal battle involving a retired High Court judge has escalated, with the Office of the Attorney General and former Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham asking the High Court to dismiss a constitutional claim alleging she was unlawfully locked out of her office and forced from her post, court filings revealed.
Dr Richards claims she was not properly considered for an extension of her tenure beyond age 65 and was removed from office in breach of the Constitution.
The suit alleges that the defendants contravened her constitutional rights, defamed her, breached her terms of employment as a High Court judge, and caused her suffering.
Through her attorney, Lalu Hanuman, Dr Richards, who filed the action last year and served the parties recently, named the Office of the Attorney General as the first defendant and Sir Patterson as the second, in his capacity as Chief Justice at the time.
But in a counter-suit filed on Friday by Senior Counsel Roger Forde, who, in association with the Solicitor General’s Office, is representing the defendants, the AG and the former chief justice are requesting the court to strike out the entire claim form filed on April 4 2025, together with the affidavit of the claimant filed in support of it lodged on May 7 of the same year.
As an alternative, Sir Patterson wants the court to order the retired judge to pay his costs occasioned by this application, such costs to be assessed or agreed.
Forde has outlined a number of grounds on which he has anchored the application.
One ground claims there is no reasonable basis for bringing the claim as constitutional, arguing that the affidavit evidence of the claimant does not disclose any ground for alleging that the defendants committed any breach of Sections 11(b), 11(c), 15, 16, 84(1A), 84(3) or 84(4) of the Constitution of Barbados.
Forde contends that the alleged request for return of a swipe card and keys, the temporary difficulty with a lock, and the administrative reallocation of office space, do not constitute a deprivation of property under Section 11(b) or Section 16 of the Constitution, nor a denial of protection of the law under Section 11(c) of the Constitution, nor inhuman or degrading treatment under Section 15 of the Constitution.
The senior counsel also argues that the alleged decision to grant a one-year extension of tenure under Section 84(1A) of the Constitution was not made by any of the defendants, but that the said decision was made by the then President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Another ground insists that there is no reasonable anchor for bringing the claim for judicial immunity:
“To the extent that the second defendant was acting in his capacity as Chief Justice of Barbados is immune from suit in respect of the acts complained of, which were performed in good faith in his capacity as the Chief Justice of Barbados and in the administration of the courts, then there is no reasonable ground for bringing the claim.”
A third ground alleges an abuse of the court process.
“The claim is an abuse of the process of the court and is frivolous and vexatious, in that the claims contained in the Fixed Date Claim Form are in substance claims for alleged breaches of the terms of the appointment of the Claimant and defamation for which alternative remedies exist and the Claimant has failed to exhaust these remedies prior to seeking constitutional relief in respect of the same,” according to the court documents.
There is also a suggestion that the claim submitted by the retired justice does not comply with Part 8 of the Court Procedure Rules (CPR).
The court will hear this counter-suit later this month.
Dr Richards, who was appointed to the Bench on April 1 2006 and retired on May 17 2022 at age 66, is asking the court to award her exemplary and vindicatory damages, costs fit for two counsel, interest, and such further or other relief as the court deems fit, according to filings dated April 4 2025.
Apart from the award of damages, the retired judge is also asking the court for declarations that the defendants breached her constitutional rights to protection from deprivation of property without compensation, protection of the law, and protection from inhumane or degrading punishment or other treatment.
Dr Richards claimed that on April 6 2022, Sir Patterson demanded that she return her swipe card and office keys, but she refused. She also alleged that on April 12, when she turned up at the White Park Road Supreme Court Complex, she was unable to enter the building with her key or access her office with her swipe card.
She was assisted by security to enter the building, but was informed that the lock to her office had been changed and observed that her name was removed from the office door, she said.
She eventually gained access to her office but saw files there she had not left, and later learned that an acting judge had been allowed in, Dr Richards claimed.
Her card was reactivated shortly before she retired, but a key was never provided, she added.
She also alleged that the events of April 12 2022 were the culmination of years of abuse, during which she was given more work than other judges and worked most weekdays until 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.
The former judge alleges that the act of being locked out of her office defamed her, because it suggested to her judicial associates, other employees, lawyers and members of the public that she had no right or authority to access the building or her office, and that she had done something wrong.
Six months before her 65th birthday, she wrote to the prime minister requesting a two-year extension of her tenure, but was granted a one-year extension by the then-governor general. There was no discussion between her and the viceroy as mandated by section 84 (1A) of the Constitution, she claimed.
As a result of the actions of the defendants and other senior officers and well-respected officials, she became ill, was depressed and withdrawn, did not want to leave home, lost her appetite and could not sleep, Dr Richards claimed.
(EJ)
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