The Appeal Court will rule tomorrow on whether or not Justice James Aboud should step down from presiding over the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) court battle to stop construction work on the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin. On February 13, Aboud refused to recuse himself from hearing the matter on the basis of apparent bias brought against him by the State. Attorneys representing the State then asked for leave to appeal, which Aboud granted. The appeal judges, Allan Mendonca, Gregory Smith and Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, after hearing arguments from both the State and attorneys representing the HRM, adjourned the matter to tomorrow for decision.
It is the State’s case that Aboud should recuse himself from the matter since his brother, environmentalist Gary Aboud, was arrested in Port-of-Spain in November after he and members of an environmental NGO, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), took protest action as they sought to get the Government to regulate seismic testing by energy companies in local waters. The State argued that the issue being faced by FFOS was similar in nature to that of the HRM and should Aboud continue presiding, members of the public might form the opinion that the judge was biased in arriving at a decision, given that his brother was also an environmentalist. Aboud rejected this submission, saying his being the brother of Gary Aboud, who was not involved in the HRM matter, was not sufficient grounds for him to recuse himself.