00:00The High Court has dismissed a judicial review and constitutional claim filed by a leading seaman in the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard
00:08who challenged the inclusion of a damage control and firefighting course in the promotional examination to the rank of petty officer.
00:17In a detailed ruling delivered on Tuesday, Justice Frank C. Passard found that the officer's case was fundamentally weakened by inordinate delay,
00:25noting that the claimant waited nearly seven years after failing the subject in 2018 before bringing the matter before the court.
00:34The claimant argued that the course was not listed as a course subject under the TT Coast Guard regulations
00:40and that as a result his failure should not have affected his seniority when he was later promoted.
00:46He further contended that he had a legitimate expectation to be promoted alongside his peers who passed the examination on the first sitting.
00:55and that the defense force had acted unlawfully and unfairly in assigning him a later seniority date.
01:04However, the court accepted unchallenged evidence from the TT Defense Force that damage control and firefighting
01:11has been an integral part of the Coast Guard's promotional examinations since its establishment in 1962.
01:19Justice C. Passard noted that the Coast Guard officers received training in the subject throughout their careers
01:26and that its inclusion in the examination is neither novel nor arbitrary
01:31but rather essential to maritime safety, operational readiness and command responsibility.
01:38The judge found that the claimant was aware or ought reasonably to have been aware of the subject's inclusion long before sitting the examination
01:47and that any challenge should have been raised at that time, not years later.
01:53On the issue of seniority, the court rejected the claimant's assertion of legitimate expectation
01:58pointing to long-standing Defense Force memoranda
02:02which clearly state that officers who pass promotional examinations on a reset
02:07are assigned seniority from the date of their final successful attempt.
02:12Justice C. Passard ruled that this policy had been consistently applied over decades
02:17and could not reasonably have given rise to an expectation of equal seniority.
02:22The court also dismissed the constitutional motion, finding no breach of the claimant's fundamental rights
02:29and rule that the Defense Force acted lawfully, rationally and within its authority.
02:34While dismissing the claim, Justice C. Passard used the opportunity to sharply criticise the state of the Coast Guard regulations
02:41describing them as anachronistic and embarrassing for a modern republic.
02:47He noted that the regulations still contain oaths of allegiance to members of the British royal family,
02:53make no reference to the President of Trinidad and Tobago
02:56and include outdated allowances and provisions dating back to the colonial era.
03:02The judge urged the Chief of Defense Staff and the Defense Council to urgently modernize the regulations,
03:09warning that continued reliance on obsolete frameworks expose the Defense Force to unnecessary legal risk
03:16and undermines public confidence in military governance.
03:20Despite those criticisms, the court emphasized that the outdated nature of the regulations
03:25did not invalidate the promotional process in this case, nor did it render the examination unreasonable or unlawful.
03:33The claim was dismissed in its entirety and the claimant was ordered to pay costs.
03:40Urvashi Tawari, Rupanarain, TV6 News.
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