Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

There were fireworks from the bench at the appeal hearing yesterday in the dual citizenship case involving People's National Party candidate Abe Dabdoub and Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz.

President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Seymour Panton, described some of the language used in Dabdoub's written submissions as out of order.

He was referring in particular to the sections of the submissions which questioned the thinking of Chief Justice Zaila McCalla when she handed down her decision in the election petition.

Panton said it was also out of order for it to be said that an article written by constitutional lawyer, Dr Lloyd Barnett, which was published in a legal magazine earlier this month could have the effect of influencing the court in its decision.

Dabdoub had said in his written submissions that the article was written with the very intention of influencing the court.

Dabdoub said further in the written submissions that while the court was unlikely to be influenced by the article, it was important in the interest of justice for the court to condemn it.

Complaint lodged

The Gleaner understands that arising from the publication of the article earlier this month, Dabdoub lodged a complaint with the General Legal Council.

When Dabdoub was questioned by The Gleaner about the alleged complaint, he said he had no comment.

Panton warned the lawyers that they were not going to be given any extra time to make submissions.

He said they would have to abide by the time allotted for the appeal and the submissions must be completed by next week Tuesday.

Vaz and Dabdoub are appealing the chief justice's ruling in May, which ousted Vaz as member of parliament for the West Portland constituency. The chief justice also ordered a by election in the constituency.

Dabdoub had brought the petition contending that Vaz was not eligible to be a member of parliament because he had American citizenship and that was in breach of the Jamaican Constitution.

Vaz's lawyer, Ransford Braham, submitted yesterday that citizenship carried a bundle of rights and one of those rights was to have a passport.

He said to exercise those rights associated with citizenship ought not to be held as a breach of the constitutional provision provided that the citizenship was obtained involuntarily and not by virtue of his own act.

He said Vaz was disqualified because he obtained a benefit, namely a passport.

Braham said Vaz agreed with the chief justice's finding that he obtained his American citizenship involuntarily through his mother who was an American citizen and not by his own act.

He said the chief justice was wrong when she found that Vaz had pledged allegiance to a foreign state by applying for a passport and using it.

Braham emphasised that the Jamaican Constitution permitted Vaz to be a candidate in a general election as long as he obtained his American citizenship involuntarily.

Justice Algernon Smith and Justice Karl Harrison are also hearing the appeal.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com