STATE MUST PAY JACK

... High Court halts Warner’s decade-old US extradition battle;

says his constitutional rights were breached

The judgment noted that Attorney General John Jeremie, after taking office in 2025, conducted an extensive internal investigation and acknowledged that the Office of the Attorney General had failed in its duty of candor by not correcting the courts’ misunderstanding regarding the existence of a bespoke specialty arrangement. Justice Reid found that the continued extradition proceedings after those misrepresentations had been made could not be allowed to continue and ordered that they be permanently stayed.

Speaking to Guardian Media shortly after the ruling, Warner welcomed the decision but said the decade-long ordeal had taken an enormous personal and financial toll. “I’m happy with the judgment but I’m still a bitter person because my life has been destroyed, my businesses have gone through the roof, my family has been put to shame and this hasn’t been fair to me for 10 years. Worst yet, the money I have spent in legal fees is insurmountable, so in a sense I’m happy, but I’m sad that I had to go through all of this to be freed,” Warner said.

Warner said he now hopes the damages phase of the proceedings will provide some measure of compensation for what he believes he has lost. “September 30 is the big day because I have been stripped of everything over the last 10 years. I’ve moved from hero to zero, and therefore I sincerely hope that the Government will be able to, in some way, justify financially what I have gone through. They can’t replace it but hopefully they can somehow justify it.”Guardian Media reached out to Garvin Nicholas, who was attorney general at the time the extradition proceedings began, former attorney general Faris al-Rawi, who took over the reins in September 2015, and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. However, there was no comment from either of them up to press time.

Guardian Media also sent questions to the US Embassy in T&T and is awaiting their response.

Attorney calls for probe into AG's Office After Warner ruling

Attorney General John Jeremie said yesterday his office is seeking advice on options open to the State with respect to the High Court judgment in the matter against former FIFA vice-president Dr Jack Warner. He was responding to questions from the Sunday Express on a call from attorney Saira Lakhan for his office to appoint an independent investigation into the conduct of the Office of the Attorney General following a High Court judgment which found that the office breached its duty of candor to the courts in Warner's extradition proceedings.

Jeremie stated: 'The Office is examining the comments on the behavior of the relevant past office holders. I am taking advice on the options now open to the State. I am also taking advice on the findings in respect of those who acted for the State at the material time.'

Warner won the landmark legal victory last Friday after more than a decade of extradition proceedings, with the High Court permanently halting efforts to send him to the United States. It also ruled that the State violated his constitutional rights by unlawfully pursuing the case. Lakhan also acknowledged the position adopted by current Attorney General John Jeremie SC, during the proceedings. She noted that Jeremie informed the court that the allegations arising from the matter had the potential to undermine public confidence in the administration of justice She said Jeremie also undertook investigations into the matter after assuming office and accepted before the court that the Attorney General's Office was culpable for a breach of its duty of candor.

AG’s Office knew Warner claim was false since 2016

The Office of the Attorney General knew since 2016 that there was no separate or bespoke specialty arrangement with the United States concerning the extradition of Jack Warner. However, that office failed to correct the courts and eventually made positive representations to the Privy Council that such an arrangement existed, High Court Judge Karen Reid has found. In a 71-page judgment last Friday, Justice Reid raised serious concerns about the conduct of the Attorney General’s Office under then-attorney general Faris Al-Rawi and expressed difficulty accepting explanations from Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes as to why the High Court and Court of Appeal were not told the true position.

Justice Reid found that what began as an “understandable misunderstanding” eventually evolved into “deliberate avoidance wholly inconsistent with the expected standards of candor and forthrightness”. “Not only was this not true, this was known by the Attorney General to not be true since 2016,” Justice Reid said. The judge found the purported arrangement was plainly a live issue, having been expressly raised in Warner’s Notice of Appeal and addressed in his submissions.

Yet the Attorney General did not tell the Court of Appeal that no undisclosed or ad hoc arrangement existed. Jeremie also sought explanations from Al-Rawi concerning the certificate, instructions provided to the State’s lawyers and why the courts were not corrected. According to the judgment, Al-Rawi sought documents and requested that the State pay for independent legal counsel to assist him in responding. No affidavit containing a substantive explanation from Al-Rawi was subsequently filed before the trial. Justice Reid ultimately described the breaches of Warner’s constitutional rights as “egregious and serious”.