By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Defense lawyer for the National Democratic Alliance, Dr Bu-Buakei Jabbie has said in court that the High Court of Sierra Leone has no jurisdiction to pass judgment in the NDA case.
“The jurisdiction of the court is negatively preclusively and exclusively affected by the very subject matter of the application orders and injunctions being sought in both the writ of summons and the notice of motion on the plaintiff’s behalf,” he submitted.
He said the issues raised in past sittings were in relation to the interim injunction, adding that the matter was now in its “substantive stage”. He furthered that “the so-called contravention of the NDA constitution is a national constitutional issue.”
Lawyer Jabbie told the court that those issues in the documents raised questions of constitutional implication in the supreme law form, adding that “those issues are outside the jurisdiction of the high court”. He refused to comment on the prosecution’s response to the affidavit he filed last week, saying that he needed time to go through it.
Prosecution lawyer, Leon Jenkins-Johnston, pointed out that there was absolutely no reason for the defense to say that the court lacked jurisdiction to rule over the matter again after being told by the judge that the matter was very much a high court affair.
“I consider that an affront to your Lordship’s honor”, he said, and reminded the court that the party did not have enough time to prepare for the elections, urging the court to make haste and finish the matter.
The matter comes up again today, Tuesday October 30, 2012.
(c) Politico 30/10/12
