Justice ministry recruitment case returns to court
A lawsuit brought by two civil servants against the Government over its recruitment methods is due back in court today for a judge to consider how the case should proceed.
K. Amani Lawrence and Eugene Johnston, both lawyers in the Ministry of Justice, filed the judicial review proceedings against the Public Service Commission, the Minister of the Cabinet Office, the Head of Public Service, the Attorney-General and the Governor in November 2024.
Mr Johnston told The Royal Gazette this week that the session would be the third case management hearing so far, and said he was keen for the matter to proceed to a full hearing of all of the arguments.
He added that the respondents had yet to file a full response. The joint claim, according to legal documents, relates to two high-ranking appointments in the justice ministry, as well as wider concerns about the PSC’s alleged lack of independence from the Government.
Ms Lawrence, a parliamentary counsel who works in the legislative drafting section of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, complained she was improperly passed over for the Chief Parliamentary Counsel post in favour of a non-Bermudian.
Mr Johnston, a Crown counsel who works in the civil advisory section, said he was denied an opportunity to apply for the post of Solicitor-General because of an incorrect description of the prerequisites for the role when it was advertised.
The pair, who are representing themselves, were given leave in February last year to seek a judicial review over the PSC’s recommendations for the positions.
The permanent appointments of Shakira Dill-Francois as Solicitor-General and Nalini Salick as Chief Parliamentary Counsel were stayed in the meantime, with both continuing to act in those roles.
Puisne Judge Andrew Martin denied leave to pursue other issues raised in the lawsuit, including the claim that the Government’s recruitment process was unconstitutional.
The judge’s decision to narrow the scope of the case was successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal, with a June 2025 ruling giving Mr Johnston leave to pursue the excluded grounds and granting him his costs.
The appeal ruling summarises one of the “principal complaints” in the lawsuit as being that the PSC “did not have appropriate control over the appointment process, which was instead controlled by the [Government’s] human resources department through its recruitment code” and that this was “legally flawed because the department is subject to the direction and control of the minister”.
The plaintiffs claimed that was inconsistent with the independence requirements under the Constitution and the PSC regulations.
Another complaint was that only the Attorney-General could validly hold the posts of head of chambers and head of department, but a Cabinet minister could not lawfully hold those positions because of lack of independence, and that the permanent secretary of legal affairs, as the ministry was then called, invalidly acted as head of department.
Appeal judge Ian Kawaley wrote: “Those principal grounds of judicial review are in my judgment arguable, even though one may instinctively have a dubious initial response to points which challenge the established orthodoxy.”
He added: “It may well be that the range of issues to be determined at the final hearing should be narrowed.
“If so, that case management exercise is more appropriately to be carried [out] by the judge himself, with hopefully co-operative input from all parties.
“For instance, some factual assertions which are made by [Mr Johnston] may turn out to be unsustainable in light of incontrovertible evidence filed on the respondents’ part.
“That is a matter to be considered at a directions hearing before the judge, not by this court in the context of determining whether leave should be granted to pursue arguable grounds for judicial [review].”
It was reported byTNN last month that the stay on Ms Dill-Francois becoming the permanent post-holder for Solicitor-General was lifted by the Court of Appeal. She is the first woman to hold the post in Bermuda.
Ms Dill-Francois and Ms Salick, who is from Trinidad & Tobago, are named as directly affected persons in the legal proceedings — but the latter is understood to have resigned as Chief Parliamentary Counsel and left the island this year. A response to queries from The Royal Gazette stated: “As this matter is currently before the court, it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on the substance of the case or on the conduct and timing of the proceedings.
“We can confirm that Shakira Dill-Francois has been appointed Solicitor-General.
“The position of Chief Parliamentary Counsel was advertised and a recruitment process is under way.”
• It isThe Royal Gazette’spolicy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers
• To view the Court of Appeal ruling, see Related Media
