FORMER chairman of the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) Calder Hart has appealed a judge’s ruling against him in 2020 that his rights to a fair hearing and protection of the law were not breached by the decisions of the commission of inquiry into the construction of the failed Las Alturas Housing complex in Morvant.

Justice David Harris had dismissed Hart’s claim against the commission and its individual commissioners, retired judge (now deceased) Mustapha Ibrahim, Dr Myron Wing-Sang Chin and Anthony Farrell, challenging the adverse findings made against him in the commission’s final report.

Ibrahim died in June 2017, and Hart was not successful in an earlier application to have his estate joined as a party.

Hart appealed Harris's ruling, and on Monday, Justices of Appeal Mark Mohammed, Peter Rajkumar and Maria Wilson reserved their decision after hearing from attorneys representing the former Udecott boss, the commission and the Attorney General.

[caption id="attachment_1016339" align="alignnone" width="364"] Justice of Appeal Mark Mohammed -[/caption]

Hart was on the virtual link to Monday’s appeal.

Hart’s attorney, Dr Lloyd Barnett, KC, criticised the judge’s findings and also addressed his client’s position that the commission’s findings against him were illegal.

“Condemnatory statements were made against him,” Barnett said.

He faulted the failure by the commission to compel the production of certain documents Hart requested so that he could participate in the inquiry, which included minutes of board meetings from Udecott and various technical reports.

Barnett said the commission failed to exercise its statutory powers. He also said at no stage did the commission alert Hart that it could make adverse findings against him, after inviting him to give a statement on the basis that, as a former Udecott chairman, he would be of great assistance to the inquiry.

Barnett said the commission failed to observe the basic principles of fairness by failing to let Hart know of any adverse findings before its report was prepared and finalised.

He said there was a constitutional and common-law obligation and failing to do so was a fundamental error and rejection of the cardinal principles of fairness.

Barnett also referred the judges to the 2020 ruling in favour of former Housing Development Corporation managing director Noel Garcia, who also challenged the Las Alturas commission breach of the rules of natural justice in the way it treated him. Adverse findings were also made against Garcia.

Justice Kevin Ramcharan had quashed the findings against Garcia, declaring that the commission, in deciding, finding or recommending, or in the process of arriving at its decision, acted illegally, irrationally, unreasonably, and without observing the principles of natural justice.

As a result, he held the decision against Garcia was null and void and had no effect.

Barnett also said the judge made fundamental errors in law over Hart’s role in the decision-making process in the Las Alturas project.