P.U.P. Begins Challenge of Franz Parke in Supreme Court

The law firm of Courtenay Coye and Company, acting for Opposition Leader John Briceño, this afternoon filed a fixed date claim form against the Attorney General concerning the appointment of Jamaican-American Franz Parke to the Court of Appeal. Briceño is asking the court to declare Parke’s appointment unconstitutional, null and void as he does not meet the requirements of section One-O-One of the Constitution to be appointed. Further, he asks the court to declare that the Prime Minister erred in advising the Governor General to make the appointment. As constitutional leader of the opposition, Briceño was consulted with by Prime Minister Dean Barrow on whether to appoint Parke, but was skeptical because  Parke’s curriculum vitae indicates no experience in the Caribbean or Commonwealth apart from five years in the Jamaican justice system immediately after Parke’s graduation. He moved to Florida and qualified there, sandwiching stints in the Florida legal system with work in real estate and accounting. He also served on one case as a justice of appeal in 2015. The P.M. indicated that he had no further information on Parke when asked and maintained that he considered Parke, a former classmate at Norman Manley Law School in 1975, to be more than qualified for the Court. Briceño also cites a 2000 report reprinted locally that Parke was being investigated – though not arrested – for misconduct while in office. No date has been set for the hearing.