Court Issues Ruling In PLP Membership Case
The Supreme Court has issued their 85-page judgment in the case brought by Curtis Dickinson against the PLP Party Chairperson and Secretary General, with the court ruling largely in favour of Mr Dickinson and the other plaintiffs in the case concerning PLP membership and delegate eligibility.
The judgment, dated October 30, 2026, and delivered by Justice Shade Subair Williams of the Supreme Court Civil Jurisdiction, stated: “The First Addendum and the Second Addendum are unlawful as they each require implementation by the amendment procedure prescribed by Article X of the PLP Constitution and Clause 18 of the Bye-Laws. Article X and Clause 18 reserve the amendment of the Constitution and Bye-Laws to a two thirds vote of the delegates at an Annual General Conference or Special Delegates Conference upon prescribed notice.”
It also stated: “No amendment adopted after 31 August 2026 under Article X of the PLP Constitution or Clause 18 of the Bye-Laws is capable of enabling the Party to lawfully limit or remove any membership rights acquired by any individual who obtained or was entitled to obtain membership on or by 31 August 2026. Any future amendment seeking to retrospectively apply the First and or Second Addendum or any other similar restriction against members whose membership forms were submitted by 31 August 2026 is ultra vires as any such amendment would constitute a breach of the contractual rights of existing members, unless agreed by each individual member so affected. Nothing in this Ruling prevents the Party from adopting the Addenda to be applied only to new applicants whose membership forms would be due after 31 August 2026.
“The Defendants shall serve on the Plaintiffs’ attorneys no later than 4:00pm on Friday 13 November 2026, in Excel format with separate columns for last name and first name and date of birth, a complete list of members that became members of the Party between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026.”
The court document has not yet officially been made public, however they are normally posted on the government website following judgments and we will provide a link once it is made public.
In a statement issued after the judgment, the PLP said, “The Party received a copy of the Supreme Court’s judgment this evening in the proceedings brought by Mr Dickinson and others. The Party respects the Court and will review the judgment with counsel. A further statement will be issued once the review is complete.”
The legal proceedings resulted in the PLP conference being delayed, which also resulted in the leadership election being delayed. Mr Dickinson, the former Minister of Finance, is running for the position of PLP leader along with the current Minister of Economy and Labour Jason Hayward.
