Piggy-backing on the call by the Chief Justice Ivor Archie for greater financial autonomy for the Judiciary, chairman of the Tax Appeal Board Justice Anthony Gafoor yesterday called for a review of the current system which governs the board, particularly its finances.
Speaking at the opening of the law term at the Tax Appeal Board, on Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, Gafoor said the court was in the awkward position of having to rely on funds from the Ministry of Finance when in many cases the ministry was a party to the cases before the court.
“In this regard, I wish to endorse with respect the incontrovertible plea advanced by the Chief Justice at the opening of the law term, as I understand it, that judicial institutions should be allowed to manage their own funding subject to necessary auditing and monitoring of the use of such public funds” Gafoor said. On Tuesday, Archie recommended a new system which afforded the Judiciary a fixed percentage of the annual national budget.
Archie had pleaded for “a funding model that respects the independence of the Judiciary, that gives us a fair share of the national budget, that does not depend on the goodwill of whoever happens to hold the executive reins, that allows for rational and efficient management of funds and is responsive to long-term needs as well as immediate environmental shifts, while retaining transparency and accountability.”
Gafoor also called for a review of the laws that currently govern the Tax Appeal Board, highlighting that the name itself should be changed to remove the word “board” as was done in Canada over two decades ago. He lamented that the court had been mistaken for the Board of Inland Revenue on numerous occasions, stating that as a Supreme Court it should be given the title befitting its role and function.
Gafoor added, “Though this court is considered to be the pre-eminent court of its kind in the Commonwealth Caribbean and indeed is part of the family of tax courts throughout the world, I wish to enter a plea for us to cast off the remaining shackles of the colonial system bequeathed to us, the present tax system, with a few modifications.
“After some 52 years of being independent, it is time for us to develop our own indigenous system of taxation and jurisprudence based on a shrewd assessment of the needs of this society.” Gafoor said currently the court was constrained by a lack of funding and qualified people to fill vacancies.
A lack of a proper law library, as has been the case for the past eight years in the court’s 48-year history; lack of accommodation and storage; and a lack of trained personnel to assist in research and development were some other issues stymying the court. Despite these challenges, Gafoor said, he hoped that in the near future the court would reform the Tax Appeal Board Act and Rules, have greater use of technology, and the regular publication of court judgments, among other things.
