Astaphan and Shillingford to Square Off At CCJ over Election Treating Case

DLP attorney Anthony Astaphan and Cara Shillingford will be engaging in a legal duel at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) over a 2014 election treating case filed by three complainants against the DLP electoral victory over the UWP.

The election treating case was filed by Mervin John Baptiste, Antoine Defoe, and Edincot St. Valle against 15 DLP elected candidates. In the 15-6 DLP victory against the UWP, the petitioners claimed that the ruling party engaged in political acts that were targeted at weakening the position of the opposition party through bribery and corruption.

They cited an example where the Skerrit-led administration organized an international concert calculated to influence the outcome of the election.

The CCJ has scheduled the hearing of the case to Thursday, December 10, 2020 and Anthony Astaphan SC will be representing the DLP government while Cara Shillingford will be representing the trio of Baptiste, Defoe, and St. Valle for the opposition.

The election treating case first came up for hearing before Judge Bernie Stephenson of the Dominica High Court, but he dismissed the case on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. But the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) in a 2-1 decision overruled the position of the High Court and stated that it had the jurisdiction to hear the case.

Astaphan however filed an application to appeal the ECSC ruling on the jurisdiction of the High Court at the CCJ, and his application was granted. This is the grounds on which the scheduled election treating case will be coming up at the CCJ on December 10 between lawyers representing the Dominican government and the opposition.

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