DEREK ACHONG
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
T&T Police Social and Welfare Association president Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Gideon Dickson has been given the all-clear to pursue a lawsuit over not being considered for the position of Police Commissioner because he did not have the requisite post-graduate qualifications.
Last Friday, High Court Judge Nadia Kangaloo granted Dickson leave to pursue his judicial review application over the decision taken by the Police Service Commission (PolSC).
The claim was filed earlier this month by Dickson’s lawyers led by Anand Ramlogan, SC, of Freedom Law Chambers, with Dickson already having a similar pending case against the PolSC in relation to its failure to consider him for the post of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
In his court filings, obtained by Guardian Media, Dickson’s lawyers claimed that in April, last year, he responded to an advertisement published by the commission for the post of police commissioner (CoP).
Several months later, the commission wrote to Dickson informing him that the Master in Business Administration (MBA), he earned from the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom in 2021 did not fall in the definition of a “relevant degree” in its recruitment policy.
Dickson wrote to the commission providing details of his MBA and the relevance of his associated thesis to policing and law enforcement.
The commission considered the submission but maintained its position.
Dickson’s lawyers said that before March 2022 there was no published policy for the commission to determine the “relevancy” of an officer’s educational qualifications.
They claimed that after discussions with the association, the commission published a detailed assessment policy and included an MBA from the University of Bedfordshire as a relevant degree for consideration for promotion to the rank of DCP and CoP.
They noted that in February, last year, the commission promoted Dickson’s colleague Junior Benjamin to the rank of DCP.
They pointed out that Benjamin obtained an MBA from the same institution a year before Dickson and they both did similar courses.
Stating that the topic and contents of Dickson and Benjamin’s theses were similar if not identical, they said, “He (Dickson) is unable to understand how the defendant applied the relevancy criteria to other candidates like Mr Benjamin and deemed that he satisfied it on the basis that his thesis addressed the core functions of the Police Service but rejected the applicant/claimant thesis which was more or less similar to that of Mr Benjamin.”
Dickson’s lawyers claimed that the commission was wrong to look into his degree.
“Neither the Constitution nor any other piece of legislation authorises the Commission to fix or determine the minimum conditions/qualification,” they said.
“In the circumstances, the purported review of the Claimant’s thesis by the Commission to determine whether it meets the prescribed minimum requirements is unlawful and illegal,” they added.
They described the commission’s actions as unfair, arbitrary, illegal and irrational.
“This was not a course that was open to the PolSC without any form of prior notification and consultation with affected and aggrieved officers,” they said.
“The Defendant is not entitled to use the relevancy policy to ‘pick’ and ‘choose’ which applicants they wish to consider and appoint,” they added, as they noted that the minimum qualifications are set by Parliament and the Executive.
Through the lawsuit, Dickson seeks a series of declarations over the decision and an order to quash it. He is seeking an order compelling the commission to consider him the next time it seeks to fill the office.
He also seeks a declaration that his constitutional right to equality before the law and protection of the law was breached and compensation for such.
Dickson is also being represented by Jayanti Lutchmedial, Robert Abdool-Mitchell, Natasha Bisram, and Jared Jagroo.
