The High Court has ruled that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission must pay the legal costs of election reform advocate Jerry Enriquez, despite his case being dropped.
Enriquez originally took legal action against the Commission following what his attorneys described as a "deafening silence" after he filed a formal complaint against sitting judge, Tawanda Hondora.
Although the Commission eventually dismissed his complaint, Mr. Enriquez pushed for them to cover his legal bills. He argued they kept him completely in the dark and ignored pre-action rules requiring open communication.
The Commission and the Attorney General fought the request - and hired costly private senior counsels to do so - claiming Mr. Enriquez was simply too impatient.
However, in a judgment that came down today, High Court Judge Martha Alexander sided with Enriquez, ordering the Commission to pay his costs.
In her judgment, Alexander firmly rejected the Commission's defense, stating, quote: "The non-compliance is not a "minor infringement" and its impact on Mr. Enriquez was serious, leaving him in an unnecessary state of lull and uncertainty. It caused him to incur the unnecessary cost of filing the application."
