JLP councillor hauls Chang to court after gun permit denied

Rohan Hall, a ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor, has questioned the grounds for denial of a gun licence by National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, who also presides over the party’s vetting systems that approved him as a candidate.

He raised the issue in a claim he filed in the Supreme Court on October 13 for a judicial review of Chang’s decision that essentially upheld the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) board’s view that he was “unfit” for a gun licence.

“... The JLP, of which the defendant remains the general secretary, has never raised any issues concerning my integrity and/or conduct,” argued Hall, a building contractor and principal of the company, Wonderland Construction Limited, in his affidavit.

However, the minister, who is also Jamaica’s deputy prime minister, has pushed back, insisting that the gun issue has nothing to do with the party’s vetting process.

“It is a different ballgame. I don’t mix the two. He’s a councillor, but the Firearm Authority and the review panel did not find it appropriate. That’s it. And I don’t intervene in these things,” Chang said.

At least two police investigations conducted over the last seven years featured Hall’s application for a gun licence, sources have told The Gleaner. The FLA usually depends on findings from the police National Intelligence Bureau to inform its decisions.

Hall, who represents the Red Hills division in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, charged that Chang “breached” the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness by failing to convene a hearing before making his decision. He also claims that Chang failed to disclose all the documents used to arrive at the decision.

Under the current Firearms Act, persons apply to the FLA, whose board decides whether a permit should be granted. Unsuccessful applicants may appeal to the FLA’s Review Board, which will submit a recommendation to the national security minister.

If the review board does not make a decision in 90 days, the aggrieved applicant may appeal directly to the minister.

Hall applied to the FLA in 2017 and received a letter from the agency dated March 22, 2019, which indicated that his application was denied on the grounds that he “is unfit to be entrusted with a firearm”, according to court documents.

In his affidavit, Hall explained that since he moved house in March 2021, he has not been able to locate the letter in which the FLA advised him that his application was rejected.

The councillor said he submitted an appeal to the review board in May 2019 but said the matter was not considered in time and so he took his case to Chang via a letter dated January 5, 2022.

Now the businessman said he was operating on the belief that the matter was not considered by the review panel because he was not invited to a hearing.

“If the review board had conducted a hearing or was minded to conduct one, I would have reasonably expected to know the reason why the FLA arrived at the conclusion it did and would have requested to see the documents or information that informed its decision,” he said.

Chang acknowledged Hall’s letter of appeal on February 28, and indicated that he would request a brief from the FLA.

The minister responded in May.

“Based on investigation conducted by the Firearm Licensing Authority, it was deemed appropriate to revoke Mr Hall’s firearm licence,” Chang said to Hall’s attorney, Georgia Hamilton. She has declined to comment for this story.

Hall said he believed reference to a revocation was an error since he was never granted a licence before.

“I believe he meant to say ‘deny’ since my appeal to him was in relation to the denial of my application for a firearm licence... Essentially, the defendant (Chang) upheld the decision of the FLA, which was to the effect that on the basis that I am unfit to be entrusted with such a licence,” the politician said.

But Hall is arguing that he had a “legitimate or reasonable expectation” that he would have had a hearing before the minister.

He went further, highlighting his political relationship with Chang, the minister’s role in the JLP and his selection to represent the party in the 2016 local government elections.

Chang “knows or ought to know” that the reason for him being denied a gun permit is “without basis or merit” because the minister is the “general secretary of the JLP, who has ultimate responsibility for candidate selection and was involved in my selection to run on the JLP ticket as councillor candidate for the Red Hills division,” he asserted.

“That my political journey started in 2013 when I applied to the JLP to be its candidate in the next local government elections for the Red Hills division. That having applied, I was vetted, and then I was invited to an interview by a selection committee, which was chaired by Desmond McKenzie,” he added.

Along with McKenzie, the current local government and rural development minister, the committee comprised Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams and Deputy Mayor Winston Ennis.

“After this, there was a selection process at the divisional level and, after I emerged victorious, the matter of my candidacy was approved. At the level of the Central Executive, the defendant (Chang) had oversight for determining my suitability as a candidate to represent the JLP. That the vetting process includes, but is not limited to, considerations of trustworthiness, honesty, and probity.

“I met all the criteria for candidate selection,” he said, noting further that the findings of the investigation Chang referred were never disclosed to him.

Chang declined to speak on the specifics of the case, noting that the matter is now before the courts.

But he explained that although he may choose to review decisions of the FLA, he typically defers to the recommendation of the review panel.

“I don’t intervene ... . The panel makes a review; I wouldn’t object,” he told The Gleaner of his policy since heading the security portfolio.

Controversy has dogged previous ministers who exercised their powers, included going against recommendations of the review panel – even in instances where the police have reported adverse findings against an applicant.

Though not yet in effect, a new firearms law passed this year will remove ministerial influence in the decision-making process.

When Hall was approved to represent the JLP in 2016, Chang was not the minister of national security. The portfolio was held by Robert Montague, the JLP chairman.

Chang took the portfolio in 2018.

“Once you’re not disqualified from running in an election, then you can run the election. It doesn’t mean that you meet all other criteria,” said Chang, when quizzed on the party’s vetting procedures.

Chang also said he could not use the information he received as a minister to make decisions in his capacity as general secretary.

“I can seek to get clarification and due diligence from individuals who we have questions on. But it would not be appropriate for me to seek to use information (from the ministry); the party has to do its own activities,” he said.

Hall applied for permission to seek judicial review on August 8. Almost a month later, Justice Vaughn Smith granted permission.

The first hearing in the case is set for December 14 in the Supreme Court.

The FLA said it will not comment on the development, noting that it is not a party in the matter.