Attorney takes us inside the Land Repossession case of Gilbert Selver

Not only did TCIG completely ignore the ruling of the Supreme Court by not complying with court-ordered actions in the Gilbert Selver land case, but they responded with a late appeal outside of the usually acceptable time frame, in preparation to go after other landowners, according to George Missick, lawyer for Selver, as he revealed to Magnetic Media what led to the recent Court of Appeal decision to strip the businessman of his land.

We learned the initial Supreme Court case had been initiated by Selver after years of applying for the vouchers, promised to him in a 2008 offer, to pay for his freehold titles and being given the runaround, and he won.

Missick clarified the facts of that case including that Selver had never been squatting on the land.

“He had permission to be there, the government knew he was there, he had planning permission to put up buildings. He was never a squatter. This case was not about squatting but about whether he was entitled to possession.”

Missick maintained that they have the documentation to prove it.

So why did the government decide to apply for an appeal after missing the requisite period? The answer was shared by TCIGs lawyers, Missick told us.

“They actually filed this appeal late and had to go to the court and ask for permission to appeal ‘out of time’ and one of the things they said in their affidavit when they filed that request was that they wanted to pursue this matter because there were a lot of other people; they’re coming after people’s land.”

Missick explained that the Supreme Court judge held that:

• The contract offered by TCIG has not expired and Selver was entitled to the land at freehold purchase price.
• Selver should have been offered the vouchers to pay the fee for his freehold and TCIG should have paid his legal fees.
• It would have been inequitable to strip him of the land because of the expenditure Selver had already incurred by investing in the land with government knowledge.

The government complied with none of that, Missick confirmed to us.

“How are you upholding rule of law and when the Supreme Court judge made the ruling you’ve ignored it? A declaration was made that Mr. Selver should get the vouchers to pay for his land. We wrote for those vouchers but we never got them. They ignored the judgment, they didn’t pay,” Missick said.

Gilbert Selver

Eventually, despite the late appeal by TCIG, the Court of Appeal overturned the initial Supreme Court ruling.  Missick revealed that as of Thursday, May 2, on behalf of Gilbert Selver, he had begun the process to take the case to the Privy Council and shared why they thought it would succeed.

“We think the decision was wrong in particular as a legal point— One of the fundamental principles that’s been held up before, that only in really extreme or rare cases should the Court of Appeal interfere with findings of fact of a judge below and substitute its own decision for that judge,” Missick said.

After severe public backlash negotiations are ongoing between Selver and officials from the government but whatever the outcome Missick says it will be a watershed moment.

“This decision affects not only Mr. Selver but many other Turks and Caicos Islanders who have been offered land from the government, who built properties so I think it does need to be challenged.”

Missick hopes that the government will rectify the areas of the Crown Land Ordinance that would strip islanders of their property.

“It’s a harsh thing to tell someone— where are people supposed to go and live, what are they supposed to go and do?” He mused.

Missick is also advising residents to hold on to their documents and not rely on government copies to support themselves in their burden of proof.