THE PRIVY COUNCIL has given a Venezuelan mother and son permission to appeal the dismissal of their challenge in the local appellate court of their detention.
In an order earlier this week, Lords Sales, Kitchin and Stephens granted special leave to the woman and her son and ordered an emergency hearing for their application challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal.
The hearing has been set for March 17, and orders have been given for the filing of submissions before then, including all documents relating to the constitutional claim filed by the two.
Seven grounds of appeal in support of the petition at the London-based court were filed by attorneys representing the foreign nationals and permission was granted on all.
Attorneys for the Venezuelans and the State are also expected to file submissions on the reason for the staying of the constitutional proceedings in the local courts; the attitude of the parties to that stay, and whether and on what basis, the stay is continuing.
The Court of Appeal in July, dismissed the mother and son’s challenge of their detention because a deportation order was issued for their return to Venezuela. They entered TT illegally in November 2020 as part of a larger group.
The deportation order was stayed by Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams. The mother and son have been detained at the Chaguaramas Heliport since November 2020.
Another judge, Justice Margaret Mohammed, held there was a lawful basis for their detention since the Minister of National Security issued a valid deportation order. Mohammed refused to order their release.
The Court of Appeal had to determine whether the two were entitled to be released under a writ of habeas corpus and if their detention for an indefinite period was unreasonable and unlawful.
In their ruling, Justices of Appeal Prakash Moosai, Gillian Lucky and Mira Dean-Armorer held that the Immigration Act clearly provided a scheme for the detention of prohibited people pending deportation, and after making the order, the minister was empowered to issue a warrant of arrest for the person in question.
The minister was also empowered to make an order of detention, Dean-Armorer wrote in delivering the unanimous decision.
The Court of Appeal also pointed out that if the motion was dismissed, the two must be available to be deported, but their release may result in their absconding, frustrating the valid deportation order.
After their loss in the appeal court, attorneys for the two applied for conditional leave to appeal to the Privy Council but this was dismissed last September by Justices Nolan Bereaux and Maria Wilson.
They then petitioned the Privy Council directly for special leave.
When they entered TT, the group of 20 or so Venezuelans breached TT’s then-closed border policy, which was specified in the covid19 regulations.
They were escorted out of TT by the Coast Guard, but returned days later. They were held again and detained in quarantine and then on the deportation order.
The mother and son are represented by attor
