Govt bolsters legal team for confidence vote appeal
From left:  Senior Counsel, Rosalie Robertson; Attorney General, Basil Williams SC; Queen’s Counsel, Dr Francis Alexis; Justice Brassington Reynolds; Attorney Mayo Robertson and Queen’s Counsel, Kurt DE Freitas.
From left: Senior Counsel, Rosalie Robertson; Attorney General, Basil Williams SC; Queen’s Counsel, Dr Francis Alexis; Justice Brassington Reynolds; Attorney Mayo Robertson and Queen’s Counsel, Kurt DE Freitas.

…Former AG of Grenada QC, Francis Alexis recruited

Former Attorney General of Grenada and now Senior Lecture, University of the West Indies Cave Hill Barbados Dr. Francis Raphael Alexis has joined the government’s legal team ahead of today’s hearing of government’s appeal to chief justice’s ruling on the no confidence motion.

The case, The Attorney General v The Speaker, Opposition Leader and APNU Representatives comes up on today at the Court of Appeal. The Chief Justice had upheld the decision of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, that the no confidence motion was validly passed but the Government, through the Attorney General, is seeking to have it overruled.

Dr Alexis’ petition to practice law here was presented by attorney Mayo Robertson before Justice, Brassington Reynolds in the High Court on Monday. Robertson is also one of the lawyers representing the government in the case. Present at the ceremony were Attorney General, Basil Williams SC; Senior Counsel Rosalie Robertson and Queen’s Counsel Kurt DE Freitas.

Mayo Robertson said Dr. Alexis is the holder of the Legal Education Certificate from The Hugh Wooding Law School of the Council of Legal Education. He is also a member in good standing of the Bar of The Supreme Court in Grenada.

I always consider it an honour and privilege to petition the Court for the admission of a colleague. In this case, the honour is even more special because of my friendship with Dr. Alexis going back some 48 years. Dr. Alexis and I were class mates in the first batch of students in the L.L.B. programme at the University of the West Indies.

He was more scholarly, I was the one who slid by. Another reason why this occasion is special to me is that Dr. Alexis and I were both Calypsonians at the 1972 Campus Carnival in Cave Hill Barbados. In 1972 the Campus Carnival was the biggest Carnival type event in Barbados.
Dr. Alexis holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in 1971, A Bachelor of Laws Degree with Honours in 1997 and Master of Laws Degree in 1997 from the University of the West Indies. He is also the holder of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Law from the University of Cambridge, England in 1980.

He was admitted to the bar in Grenada in 1980 and was called to the inner bar of the Eastern Caribbean as Queen’s Counsel in August 2008. From February to April 1987 and again from March 1990 to June 1995 Dr. Alexis was Attorney General of Grenada. From February 2010 to present he has been the Course Director in Advanced Administrative Law in the Master of Law and Public Law Programme at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Barbados.

Between 1973 and 1983 he was a Senior Lecturer in Law at the Cave Hill Campus at the University of the West Indies St Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago. Over his years in private practice he has appeared in many cases which have been reported including: Lawrence v Attorney General (2008) 4 LRC 1000 Privy Council, Worme v Commissioner of Police (2004) 2 AC 430 and Attorney General v Davis (2008) 72 WIR 155 (Eastern Caribbean CA). He has been cited by our own court of Appeal in the case of Blake v Barker Civ Apps. Nos. 60 and 61 of 1986 29 May 1991 (Guyana CA)

Robertson said Dr Alexis is recognised as an outstanding professional in the field of legal drafting and has drafted without precedent the Constitutional Judicature Restoration Act 1991 Act No. 19 of 1991 of Grenada. The Act was upheld by the Privy Council in Coard V Attorney General 2007 69 WIR 295.

Dr. Alexis has also acted as Prime Minister of Grenada on many occasions between March 1990 and June 1995. He was a cabinet Minister in the Government of Grenada from December 1984 to April 1987 and again from March 1990 until June 1995. In 1993 he led the Grenada Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.

Dr. Alexis is a member of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the Caribbean Court of Justice, having been appointed in November 2015. In spite of his extraordinarily busy academic and professional life Dr. Alexis has had a very active civic life in Grenada. He led the People’s Labour Movement in the Grenada Elections in November 2003 and July 2008.

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