If this is legal then why appeal the courts ruling?

This is such a waste of the taxpayers money.

You have all this crime and you are spending tens of thousands to keep secrets?

Behold, the true criminals!

Child is born here to a no -doubt honest working family and is told by the country of his birth no only that he is not Bahamian, but is actually FORBIDDEN from receiving an education or healthcare........... According to Mr. Foolery Mitchell his policy is a matter of national security.... but it's only keeping the criminals in....... and in full control

and some think FOI is possible here............ damn

Defending Basic Human Rights is the best way to spend taxpayers money.
The only party that is wasting time & money is the government, they are the ones evading and delaying.

The government MUST be held accountable, it is a sad indication of the government chipping away and destroying democracy. The Bahamian government is blindly heading toward becoming a dictatorship, some think it already is.

We all should be on our knees thankful for any lawyer that's willing to stand up for human rights ....these are all OUR rights too.

It will be just a matter of time before this and other actions wind their way to the Privy Council where the Justices have no political affiliation.

The government will lose and some of the, what one must assume, underhanded dealings will be reviled.

But we the people are being forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to help a government keep secrets that which we want out in the open. That's perverse.

Yes, and most of this would be saved if we had a FOI act.

I usually agree with you Economist, but unfortunately, most of this would NOT be saved if we had a FOI act. At least not the FOI act that is currently being proposed. FOI acts are riddle with "exemptions". All you have to do is read the Act to realise that the actual information that citizens can REQUEST to obtain renders the act teeth-less. For instance, the Act explicitly exempts "records affecting security, defence or international relations"; "records relating to law enforcement"; "records AFFECTING THE NATIONAL ECONOMY"; and "records RELATING TO COMMERCIAL INTERESTS".....Basically, the government does not have to give substantive information relating to policy decisions in these areas. This almost certainly includes policies relating to immigration, and importantly, how and why the government spends our tax dollars the way they do! Now, that being said, you can still request information on certain administrative and procedural issues such as the salaries of public offices, how many employees are employed by a government body, or how much money a government body spends on tea and coffee a year and things of that nature. But to get solid information on the most important questions relating to the economy and the country? The substantive questions that people want answers for?....Not going to happen with any FOI Act, I can guarantee you that.

Comrades while FOI laws can give voice to ordinary people to seek out the truth surrounding the actions of their government, the peoples right to know information in the hands government can have its costs. No governing party. with or without FOI act, will give up information they don't want to be seen to citizens who seek answers..Those citizens who seek to hold their government accountable for their actions will always face politicians and officials who will think nothing to turn the tables by dishing out victimization against those demanding information.
What makes it much difficult to know who to vote for come the 2017 Genera, is the knowing that the Bay Street Boys, UBP's, FNM's and so have the PLP's - all have denied citizens the information they sought.
There MUST be an alternative, or little to anything will change for the best come the 2017 General.

But Tal, the more of us who stand up the more difficult it becomes for a government to victimize.

It is like the bully in the school yard. When faced with a large number the bully backs away.

These are politicians, as soon as it looks like the general population is against them they will back down and make it look as if they are giving us something special out of the goodness of their hearts.

Comrade Economist i don't think you really believe politicians will react as a school yard bully will once called out.

I disagree. If they won't listen to our pleas then we go international on them. That ALWAYS works. They prefer it when you can be intimidated to shut up. but once you join in a chorus and shout and scream to international communities and the cameras start rolling things change to save face.

"No governing party with or without FOI act, will give up information they don't want to be seen to citizens who seek answers."

Yes Tal. That is particularly true of a government engaged in the systematic plundering of the public treasury.

Comrade Tarzan I understand fully it's not popular to utter but while it creates excitement to harangue politicians and call for mass street protests - I would prefer to lead the march in favor of retaining the appeals to the Privy Council - cuz even if you implement a FOIA, you will need to use the Privy to have it enforced.
And, it will matter not which political party holds the power as it will be ignored. Case in point has been the total disregard by MP's, Senators and high government officials to fie their Financial Disclosure Statements as called for under the law - despite facing imprisonment.

Those who would trade Freedom for security from their Government,
usually gain nothing but lose much.
The Government is powerless to do anything but preside over the decline of their own creation,
and promise even more futile solutions.

This is the dark side of the PLP at its best ............ and you expect FOIA from them??????

Ms: Melidor has many lawyers. This is her fourth child. she is a young single parent. so I am sure she was given medical care before.. Fred Smith is trying to prove a point. If she is required to have certain documents What is the problem? I am always asked to produce certain documents over and over again and I must comply. So many persons are in need of lawyers would any of the above lawyers assist them no way. Of course not. Fred Smith human rights is not for every one it is only for certain groups.

Birdie, the principal behind a Judicial Review is the right to have a court analyze on decisions made by public bodies such as any licensing authority and government decisions.

For the court to see if the public body followed proper procedures in accordance with the rules of "Natural Justice" it needs to see what the thinking was and what it was based on. This includes the papers and documents ordered to be released.

Maybe you want a dictatorship like Haiti had under papa doc, but many of us want a free and open democracy.

I support Mr. Smith for protecting my freedom and the freedom of progressive intelligent Bahamians.

Do you mean "customary law"? You should research the meaning and epistimilogical construct behind the UN concept of local and international customary laws and how they impact member states protection of their borders and the requirements of international accords!!

Natural justice supports the Bahamas in that she has the "natural right" to determine who is allowed to enjoy the fruits of her resources. . .not persons from another nation. . .other member states are allowed to fight to protect their homeland from outside incursions!!

Democracy is an illusion as long as the people can be divided and kept from standing together.

All governments use divisive issues to divide and conquer the populations.

Only when faced with a marching majority do the people really force those "democratically elected" to truly represent, to answer for their actions and to act in the people's interest.

The more you bend over the more you show your ass! Stand up together or keep bending over, it's you're choice.

Jamaica news reporting that C&W. /. BTC has been sold. If government has 51 percent ownership in BTC did they not have a say in the sale? Understood that the buyer is an American Who involved in global communications. Is this a good thing or bad for Bahamian customers and staff of BTC

Last thing Fweddy wants is a WOMAN telling him what to do...... homosexual, racist, sexist, xenophobe = perfect candidate for minister of foreign affairs.

Economist Thank you . Now when it comes to Fred Smith protecting progressive intelligent Bahamians right there and then you left out Fred smith ., He is not a part of that group. Also does he ever try to help any poor Bahamian young men who may be innocent and can not afford a lawyer? He is selective in who he tries to help..

When I saw that court ruling the first word came to mind. . .APPEAL. . .then. . .PRIVY COUNCIL!!

No Judge has the right to request any private documents that are protected by the Constitution of the Bahamas!! Check your Constitution and you will see that the Judicial has no power to request decision making documents protocols from the Legislators. . .which include the Governor General!! This new requirement is now law of the Bahamas!

The court can only take written decisions and compare them to the Constitution and submit a ruling based on the constitutionality of the law, policy etc. The court cannot make the legislator produce any private documents that shows decision making protocol for that independent and constitutional body.

I can cite a specific Bahamian case (court #10, 2007) where one party lost the case because he lost his copy of a letter that could have proved his case against the complainant. The letter in the possession of the complainant had the terms of the agreement between both parties. The defendant requested that the judge "forced" the complainant to produce the letter that can prove the defendant case.

The court ruled that the court could not "force" the complaint to produce any private documents even if it could show the true terms of the dispute. . .THE COURT CAN ONLY CONSIDER DOCUMENTATIONS PRESENTED AS PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE COMPLAINANT TO SUPPORT THEIR CLAIMS FOR REDRESS!!

The court is not allowed to go on fishing expedition or witch hunts in independent legislator documents to "find" support for the complainant's case!! If the prima facie evidence presented by the complainant cannot show where the complainant was "wronged". The judge is not solid in asking the defendant to go bring "your papers so I can find something to support the complainant's case"! LOL!!

**THAT REQUEST WILL NOT BE COMPLIED WITH!**! Furthermore, the new immigration requirement became law May 18th, 2015. . .sign by the GG. . .over whom no court in this land can constitutionally appeal, repeal any law or question his/her decision!

The problem with persons here who I assume are of Haitian decent and question Government decisions is that they do not take time to educate themselves on these issues before they "run" their mouths all over the place and become all emotional, rude and loud.

Fred Smith just throwing "good cases" at the court and hoping that one will "stick" so he can prove his point! So far. . .the Jamaican man who was in jail for years without a trial case is the only one that will "bite" the Bahamas in the butt!!

That's why the court immediately granted its Habitus Corpus ruling after hearing the evidence. . . however, the Bahamian Government is still "looking" into the case. . .