TWENTY years after he retired, the estate of a Ministry of Labour clerk is expected to receive his outstanding retirement benefits.

In a ruling on April 23, Justice Frank Seepersad was highly critical of the delay.

“All the delays which occurred in this case were excessive, unreasonable and outrageous and they resulted in a circumstance where the deceased was denied the protection of the law.”

The judge had been asked to grant several declarations sought by Cheryl Davis, the widow of Horace Davis, who sought payment of his outstanding emoluments.

Horace Davis died on September 24, 2015, and had retired in 2004 from the civil service.

In 2018, the comptroller of accounts in the Ministry of Finance advised of the benefits owed to Davis. In 2022, Davis’s attorney asked for the outstanding sum owed to the estate. The figure of $323,086 was subject to the auditor general’s approval and a request made for the ministry to get the President’s advice, given that Davis had a previous conviction.

In 1989, Davis had been interdicted for larceny and was convicted and fined $1,000 by a court.

During his interdiction, the Public Service Commission suspended him with a three-quarter salary and after his conviction, his salary was stopped.

However, according to the court’s ruling, in 2004, he was allowed to voluntarily retire from the public service, effective October 18, 2004. When this happened, the commission decided to take no further action in the disciplinary matter against him.

In his ruling, Seepersad said there was no explanation for the delay in paying the outstanding emoluments. He said from the procedural history of the case, there were four “significant and unexplained” periods of delay.

“The law and basic fairness require that the computation of pensions and gratuity should be engaged in a timely manner and at least three months before an officer’s retirement.

“The laissez-faire approach and inefficiency which this matter has revealed is alarming,” the judge said,

He also said by 2005, it should have been “patently obvious” that Davis was no longer the subject of any disciplinary matter and the ministry should have “promptly” ensured the payment of applicable benefits after receiving the necessary information on what was owed.

“The tragedy meted out to the deceased and his estate is compounded by the seeming absence of accountability which is manifest within the public service.

“In this court, this manner of arbitrary conduct cannot be condoned and will be called out.”

He added, “The court is now inundated with administrative-law matters which are primarily premised upon assertions that statutory obligations have not been discharged by various public officers.

“At some point, efficiency concerning the discharge of statutory obligations has to be prioritised.”

He said the facts in the case demonstrated there was a need to visit the existing constitutional framework and revamp and modernise administrative functions in the public sector.

“It is imperative that the efficacy of the pub