A special call has been made by the Court of Appeal for Parliament to pass legislation to make it specific as to what should happen when an unqualified person has been elected to the House of Representatives.

Justice Seymour Panton, president of the Court of Appeal, made the call yesterday when the written reasons were delivered in the appeal, which Abe Dabdoub, former People's National Party candidate, had brought against Daryl Vaz, Jamaica Labour Party candidate.

The judge said it seemed an oddity that a person could get citizenship in even an unfriendly Commonwealth country and still sit in Parliament, while a person with citizenship from The United States of America, "their friendly accommodating neighbour to the north", was disqualified. According to the judge, it was even more odd, given the fact that many Jamaicans sought United States citizenship and were more likely to be accommodated in that country when compared to many Commonwealth countries.

Unfair comments

Justice Panton also castigated those who, through the media, made unfair comments about the court's ruling in the dual-citizenship case.

He warned that the court would not be "bullied" by anyone and would continue to carry out its duties without fear or favour.

Panton said he was also puzzled by the clamouring for the written reasons for the court's decision, which was handed down on February 27.

He said further in the judgement that "before finally parting with the matter, I wish to suggest that Parliament ought to contemplate legislation in relation to the consequences of the election of an unqualified candidate".

"This would eliminate the need to resort to the common-law doctrine of 'votes thrown away'. There should be no grey areas," the judge said.

Panton also said that in the process of any review, Parliament and other appropriate bodies might well wish to consider whether the entire body of law and rules relating to election petitions ought not to be revisited with a view to establishing simplicity and certainty.