Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Stern

Member of Parliament for North West Clarendon, Michael Stern, yesterday failed in his attempt to have the Supreme Court set aside the election petition which the People's National Party candidate Richard Azan served on him.

Senior Puisne Judge Marva McIntosh ruled yesterday that the hearing of the election petition must proceed because Stern was properly served.

The judge ordered Stern to file his defence by August 12 and the case management has been set for September 23.

Going to court of appeal

Attorneys-at-law Kirk Anderson and Motheba Linton, who re-presented Stern, applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal and the application was granted.

Azan had filed a petition in the Supreme Court contending that Stern was not qualified to be elected to the House of Representatives because he was a citizen of the United States of America.

Stern and Azan had contested the general election on September 3, 2007, in the North West Clarendon constituency.

Move to strike out petition

After Azan filed the petition in the Supreme Court on October 3 last year, service was effected by sending the petition by registered post on October 10 to Main Street, Frank-field, Frankfield PO, Clarendon.

Stern filed an acknowledgement of service on November 7 last year.

Stern then sought to strike out the petition on the grounds that the election petition had not been sent to the address on his nomination paper and that he had not been furnished with the particulars of the claim.

Stern contended that the address on his nomination paper was Main Street, Frankfield. He claimed the petition was not served in accordance with the Election Petitions Act, which states that service by registered post must be sent to the address on the nomination paper.

Attorneys-at-law Abe Dabdoub and Chumu Paris opposed the application on the grounds that it had been properly served.

The judge, in throwing out the application, said that to accept Stern's proposition that he was not properly served because the words "Frankfield PO" and "Clarendon" were included in the postal address would make a mockery of the proceedings.

"The reality is that the address on the nomination paper was incomplete," the judge said.

The judge said further that the particulars of the claim had been furnished in accordance with Section Eight of the Election Petitions Act.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com