Video: Interview With Lawyer On SSM Case
Lawyer Rod Attride Stirling is speaking with Bernews this morning [Nov 28], sitting down for a live interview with journalist Don Burgess to discuss about recent same sex marriage legal case, and you can tune in and watch below.
Mr Attride-Stirling — who represented five of the six clients the Bermuda Government took to the Court of Appeal – told Bernews last week that he believes the decision is precedent-setting for other jurisdictions, and said he and Mark Pettingill have made a request to recoup costs from the Government, and today he will expand on the legal aspects of the case.
Update: The live broadcast has concluded and the 32-minute replay is below
Bermuda’s Court of Appeal handed down their ruling on Friday, with the Court dismissing the Government’s appeal - meaning that same sex marriage is now legal in Bermuda again.
The ruling was, in effect, the third court ruling in favour of it, as same sex marriage was initially legalised following a Court decision in May 2017, then the Court ruled in favour of it again in June 2018 when a challenge was brought to the Domestic Partnership Act, and on Friday the Court dismissed the Government’s appeal.
Having been through the Supreme Court and Appeals Court, the final possible place of appeal is now the Privy Council in England, and the Government said they “will determine its next steps within the prescribed period of 21 days in which any application for leave to appeal must be made.”
If you want to listen ‘on the go’, you can also access the audio only version of this interview, and all our past interviews, in the podcast section of the Bernews app.
Rod Attride-Stirling nailed it on so many fronts. It was an amazing legal journey from Case # 1 # 2 # 3. Victory at all stages. The Dream Team of Mark Pettingill, Rod Attride-Stirling, Ronald Myers and Katie Richards prepared and argued successfully for a minority that will go down in the annals of legal history.
The fact that Preserve Marriage, the PLP Government, Dr. Maria Seaman and others kept repeating a LIE, does not, by its very repetition, make it the TRUTH.
The TRUTH is that less than One Third of Bermudians voted NO to Same-sex marriage.
Preserve Marriage, the PLP Government, Dr. Maria Seaman have been telling lies for years to the Bermudian public and many of them believe every word they say.
But there are many that know they are lying and call them out when they lie only to be told by these people we are racist or not Bermudian.
It will all end in tears one day!
oba have doomed are kids future and the future.
Certainly no more than your illiteracy has
I’d like to echo that statement that this judgement does nothing more for our Children than to hold true every Bermudians human rights today – tomorrow and in the future…the failed referendum should be treated as such …when less than 25% of the total voting electorate voted against SSM it is not the “will of the people” Potentially it could be argued that 75% supported it but just didn’t vote
Else where in the world parents forcing their kids to be transgenders.……….
Where?
Stop lying. If your position is so strong, why do you have to use such pathetic, transparent lies to support it?
“Our” kids. And no they havent lol. Plp is the government now for the millionth time. It was their problem to fix and guess what? They couldnt. U know why? Cause it isnt a problem. Only seems to be to one particular segment here. Fix your own issues and stop worrying about everyone else. Like u all love to say. “Get over it”
God will have the final say!
I’m cool with it.
I’m happy to see people able to marry the person they love.
If we where in the EU and you said that under that name you may have just committed a crime….
Yes. And santa clause brings everyone christmas presents, and the tooth fairy brings u money and the easter bunny brings u chocolate. Same thing as god. Ie a figment of your imagination. Nice try tho. As usual, if u dont have a valid argument just throw religion out there. The single most devastating practice ever forced on mankind. How many deaths has your god caused to date since his inception?
@Real Deal….how does this involve the OBA? They aren’t the Govt. Go to civics class right away.
I am soooooo TIRED of hearing about this!!!! Let it rest…no matter the outcome. We have so many other bigger issues to deal with.
Then take your beef up with the people who keep saying ‘No, No , no .
Thank you for this interview – please do more of this Bernews.
It is important to understand our Constitution is critical to this recent decision and that no current or future parliament can operate outside of our constitution.
Sir Scott said in a written judgment that section 53 of the DPA — which prohibited same-sex marriage — went against a Constitutional right to freedom of conscience.
He added the section was invalid because it was designed to satisfy the “mainly religious” demands of campaign group Preserve Marriage Bermuda.
Dr. Maria Seaman argues that Parliament reigns supreme and that is not correct. It is not about Parliament being above our Courts, it is that our Constitution reigns supreme in all matters be it Parliament, Politics, Religion or the Courts.
Now, as for changing our Bermuda Constitution – that is a separate matter.
We can thank the drafters of our Constitution for allowing us the opportunity to have freedom of conscience and not
The ‘war on some drugs’ is unconstitutional, goes against right to freedom of conscience, why does no one care?
We DO care. It’s just not the topic at hand.
Have you got around to organizing a movement to legalize marijuana yet, or is this just the usual whining with no action?
OK , here’s a question for the legal experts.
If government were to go back to the proverbial drawing board and reformulate a new legislation that outright banned SSM completely would it still fail in the courts ?
Yes, it would. We have a constitution. The grandchildren of the preserve marriage leadership are going to spend the rest of their lives apologizing for their relatives.
At this point it would be next to impossible. Any ban on SSM would be tainted by the same problem – it would, at least, appear to be driven by religion. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle.
Nobody can circumvent the Rule of Law. Not even the government.
It should be noted that the person chosen by the Government specializes in this type of case, when a QC is defeated in his specialty, it stands to reason that Attride-Stirling & Co presented a very strong case.
To those who speak of Parliamentary authority, you are mistaken the Constitution is the Authority and the Judiciary are there to guide when we are right or wrong.
That’s how a Constitutional Democracy works.
Funny how the PLP are suddenly the champions of “parliamentary sovereignty” after people were physically preventing Parliament from sitting not that long ago.
Truth is, it’s not about parliamentary sovereignty. It’s about PLP sovereignty.
What does the PLP have to fear of SSM is the law of the land? Is it the fear of the church vote? Because it’s not like the church vote is going to turn away from the PLP at the next election. I mean….what are they really afraid of?
Real simple Bermuda Government -don’t mess with Rod!