Justice Nadia Kangaloo has ordered Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher to decide on 17 FUL applications (firearm user’s licences) by 4 pm on July 22nd.
The order follows a complaint by 17 applicants of unreasonable delay by the commissioner in deciding on their FUL applications.
They sought a series of declarations that Harewood-Christopher breached her statutory duty and her failure to decide on their applications was unreasonable, unlawful and illegal.
They also sought an order directing her to decide by July 22nd, which the judge granted.
The 17 complainants include business owners, a pilot, a real estate developer, an engineer, and a pharmacist.
Justice Kangaloo’s decision in their case came almost two months after she upheld an identical lawsuit from 33 applicants.
In that case, Justice Kangaloo found that the reasons for the undue delay in deciding the applications proffered by the commissioner’s legal team were unreasonable.
The CoP’s legal team claimed the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of FUL applications to be processed (around 50,000) and an audit into the firearm unit caused delays.
In the recent case, the group claimed they had a legitimate expectation that their applications would be considered within a reasonable time, though they admitted that were not entitled to be granted FULs.
In upholding their case, Justice Kangaloo granted a series of declarations over Harewood-Christopher’s handling of the applications. She declared that Harewood-Christopher breached or neglected her statutory duty under the Firearms Act and that such action was unlawful and illegal.
The T&T Police Service was also ordered to pay the group’s legal costs for the lawsuit.
The group was represented by Jagdeo Singh, Leon Kalicharan, Karina Singh and Vashisht Seepersad.