Attorneys attending a Bar Association meeting on Thursday decided to seek clarification from the attorney general regarding who is legally the registrar general before taking any kind of action, according to Association President Wayne Munroe.
Mr. Munroe has said that the Association has continued concerns over the matter, given that both Elizabeth Thompson and Shane Miller are carrying out functions as registrar general.
“We donﾴt want to presume what the government intends to do, so we have decided to speak with the attorney general before we can outline what the Associationﾴs next step would be,” Mr. Munroe said.
He added that if the government fails to have this matter cleared up soon, the Association would have to take appropriate action to ensure that legal documents being signed in the Registrar Generalﾴs Department are authentic.
Mr. Munroe said some attorneys have said that if they receive documents signed by the registrar general or the acting registrar general they would send them back to be signed by the deputy registrar general.
“If a lawyer disobeys court orders deliberately then [he or she] would be placed before the disciplinary tribunal, but we donﾴt know if this is the case with Mr. Miller, so we have given him the opportunity to give us a fair and reasonable explanation as to why he remains in the registrarﾴs office after the Supreme Court has ruled that Elizabeth Thompson is the registrar general,” Mr. Munroe said.
Justice High Small said in his ruling in early June that Ms. Thompson was unfairly terminated and he quashed the authoritiesﾴ decision to fire her.
But the judge never ordered Ms. Thompson back to work, although he said in his latest ruling that he had no authority to prevent her from carrying out her functions as registrar general.
He also denied a request from the Office of the Attorney General for a stay of his ruling which would have blocked Ms. Thompson from returning to work.
Mr. Munroe indicated that in a letter addressed to Mr. Miller on June 21, the Association expressed concerns that documents signed by Mr. Miller after the courtﾴs ruling, may be invalid and therefore not legally binding.
The Association wrote: “We would be grateful therefore if you could supply us with the authority by which you are enabled to perform the functions which you have purported to carry out since the date of the aforesaid ruling.
“It is our view that by virtue of the judgment and the presence of the substantive office holder you lack jurisdiction to continue to act as registrar general.”
However, Mr. Munroe said up to Thursday, Mr. Miller still had not responded to the letter.
He restated that if the Association does not soon get a satisfactory answer, it would seek an injunction from the Supreme Court to prevent Mr. Miller from acting in his post.
The government has appealed this matter before the Court of Appeal.
Bianca Symonette,The Bahama Journal
