Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

A security company and one of its directors had their convictions quashed and their $550,000 fines set aside for breaching one of the regulations under the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act.

Marksman Limited and Valerie Juggan-Brown, a director, were convicted on November 22, last year in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court for failure to provide the Minister of Labour with information in relation to certain categories of workers.

Requested information

The company was fined $500,000 and Juggan-Brown was fined $50,000.

The minister had requested information in relation to certain employees of Marksman Ltd., after the United Union of Jamaica reported that it had served a Form Two (claim form) for a representational rights poll in relation to the workers.

Winston Spaulding, Q.C., and attorney-at-law Garth McBean, who represented the company and the director, argued that the Resident Magistrate erred in convicting them because there was no evidence that the union had served the Form Two on the company, outlining its intention to represent the workers.

Marksman Ltd. had said in its defence that it only received a letter from United Union of Jamaica but had never received the claim form.

No proof

The Court of Appeal, comprising Mr. Justice Seymour Panton, Mr. Justice Howard Cooke and Mrs. Justice Hazel Harris, upheld submissions from the lawyers that there was no evidence to prove that Marksman Ltd. had received the Form Two from the union and therefore, the convictions must be quashed.

The court in allowing the appeal held yesterday that the Minister would have to be satisfied that the Form Two was served before commencing the process of seeking information from Marksman Ltd or prosecuting the company.

The court said further that the Resident Magis-trate would also have to be sure that the claim form was, indeed, served and that proof was beyond reasonable doubt.