By Sue-Ann Wayow
ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour met with Chief Parliamentary Counsel Ian Macintyre on Wednesday.
A press release from the AG’s office on Wednesday stated that Armour held a cordial meeting and discussions in the Attorney General’s Chambers.
“The Attorney General and the Chief Parliamentary Counsel have agreed to continue their discussion,” the release stated.
The Express reported in March that Armour was seeking the advice of senior and junior counsel in the imbroglio involving Al-Rawi and MacIntyre.
The imbroglio between the two stemmed from Al-Rawi filing a complaint against MacIntyre, the State’s chief legal draftsman, as a result of MacIntyre’s refusal to draft bills on the oral instructions of Al-Rawi without prior Cabinet approved policy instructions or direct instructions from the Prime Minister.
The complaint was filed right before Al-Rawi was removed as AG and replaced as Minister of Rural Development and Local Government.
MacIntyre has insisted that legislation was only drafted after Cabinet’s approval or in an emergency, on the direct instruction of the Prime Minister, a long-established and well-known principle and practice in Trinidad and Tobago and the Commonwealth.
On March 11, in a letter to MacIntyre, Al-Rawi stated that his refusal to draft legislation authorised by the Attorney General showed defiance of Al-Rawi’s”role, function and authority as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.”
Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) chairman Chief Justice Ivor Archie letter of complaint from Al-Rawi was dated March 16, the same day, Al-Rawi was reassigned to the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government.
MacIntyre’s lawyer Anand Ramlogan has since insisted that the complaint be dismissed.
He argued that there was serious doubt as to whether Al-Rawi was in fact competent to make the complaint, as the date of his letter to the JLSC was the same day, he was relieved of his Attorney General’s portfolio.
