Attorney Isat Buchanan loses bid to become JP

Attorney-at-law Isat Buchanan has failed in his bid in the Judicial Review Court to get declarations that he should be appointed a Justice of the Peace.

Buchanan was not appointed by the Custos of Kingston Steadman Fuller because he failed to disclose in his application that he had previous convictions.

Justice Tara Carr, in refusing to grant declarations sought by Buchanan, ruled on February 23 that he was “not entitled to a declaration that he had a legitimate expectation to be appointed as a JP as he failed to make full disclosure on his application thereby nullifying his recommendation.”

The judge said further that having found that the custos was not obliged to administer the oath of office given the material non- disclosure, the declarations sought by Buchanan were refused.

Buchanan had applied to the custos in January 2017 to be a JP.

He was informed of the approval of his application in a letter dated March 15, 2019.

Buchanan thereafter completed the mandatory training course at the Judicial Training Institute.

On May 17, 2019, Buchanan received a telephone call and the custos informed him that he wished to meet with him on May  21, 2019.

During that meeting, the custos advised him that he and the Advisory Committee for the Custos had reviewed his application and decided that they would not recommend his commission as a JP on the basis that they were not satisfied that he was a person of unquestionable character.

He was further told that information received by the custos indicated that he had failed to disclose that he had previous criminal convictions when making his application.

Buchanan, who was represented by King's Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson and attorney-at-law John Clarke, instructed by Knight Junior and Samuels, took the issue to the Supreme Court and was granted leave to challenge the decision in the judicial Review Court.

The attorneys-at-law representing the defendants opposed the declarations sought on the basis that Buchanan could not be considered in law to be a JP as he had failed to meet the requirements which would make him eligible for qualification and appointment.

The custos had stated in his affidavit that Buchanan had ticked “no” in response to the question on the application form, “Have you ever been found guilty of a criminal offence?”

The custos said because the claimant was an attorney-at-law he did not send the application form to the police but instead sent it to the Minister of Justice.
After hearing legal arguments in the matter, Justice Carr ruled that the Buchanan was not entitled to take the oath of office as the custos, in exercise of his discretion, had found that Buchanan had not met the requirements as set out in the Justices of the Peace Act.

Defendants were the Custos of Kingston and the Advisory Committee and they were represented by King's Counsel Ransford Graham and attorney-at-law Christina Thompson, instructed by Braham Legal.

Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck was a defendant and he was represented by attorneys-at-law Lisa White and Stuart Stimpson, instructed by the Director of State Proceedings.

- Barbara Gayle

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