A move by Finance Minister Colm Imbert to start operationalising the TT Revenue Authority (TTRA) has been condemned by the Public Services Association (PSA).
There now appears to be some confusion over the extent of a limited stay granted by the Court of Appeal, as the union’s president Leroy Baptiste said on June 27 that letters had been sent to staff of the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and Customs and Excise Division (CED) on June 25.
“This is a flagrant violation and gross disrespect to the struggle of the workers as well as the administration of justice,” his statement said.
The PSA’s attorneys have sought an urgent emergency hearing asking the Court of Appeal to “correct” its June 11 order to specifically direct a stay of the implementation and operationalisation of section 18 of the TTRA Act.
On June 4, Justices of Appeal Mark Mohammed, Charmaine Pemberton and Mira Dean-Armorer said it made sense to temporarily preserve the status quo, as it would be conducive to the ease of administration in the public’s interest, while mindful of the administration of justice.
They granted a limited stay which should have put a temporary halt to the operationalisation of the TTRA until September 25. The court’s order was sent out to attorneys on June 11.
However, this led to a flurry of e-mails from the PSA’s attorneys and attorneys for the State, pointing out an apparent error in the drafting of the formal order sent by the registrar, as it did not “accurately reflect the nature of the stay asked for by the union and granted by the court,” Svetlana Dass, instructing attorney for the Attorney General said in her e-mail.
Vishaal Siewsaran, one of the PSA’s attorneys, sent a similar e-mail asking for the to court revisit and revise its order.
On June 14, the registrar told the parties the order they had received “faithfully represents the decision and order of the court pronounced at the hearing on June 4.”
The exchanges form part of the PSA’s application to the Court of Appeal to “correct” its order, which is allowed under the civil proceedings rules.
“The court may at any time correct (without an appeal) a clerical mistake in a judgment or order, or an error arising in a judgment or order from any accidental slip or omission.”
Siewsaran also said, “Given the clear understanding by both parties regarding the true nature and purpose of the orders made by the court and in particular the interim relief, the appellant was confident that the respondent would respect and preserve the status quo and hence chose to focus on the preparation of the appeal to the Board.”
However, the application said on June 15, the State told the PSA’s legal team the Appeal Court order did not prevent the implementation of section 18 of the act, and that the minister had decided to proceed with implementing the section, while giving an extension to BIR and CED staff until July 31 to exercise their option.
The Revenue Authority Act was proclaimed with an effective date of May 1, 2023, and was scheduled to take effect on Aug
