The Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica on Monday dismissed an application made last week Friday for interim injunctions against Tennis Jamaica brought by one of its members, Joseph Dibbs.

The application for interim injunctions was to restrain the holding of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) called by Tennis Jamaica Thursday, March 3, 2016 to discuss resolutions intended to set guidelines for a new meeting to elect a president and other officers, or any other meeting of Tennis Jamaica. John Azar was heard in the application as an interested party.

The injunctions were sought in a claim which seeks, among other things, a determination that John Azar was duly and validly elected president of Tennis Jamaica arising out of the Annual General Meeting of Tennis Jamaica held on November 19, 2015.

In dismissing the application with costs, Justice Leighton Pusey stated that the application for Azar to be declared president has no evidential basis, is supported by no legal principle outlined in the claim and is not an action which a member can obtain against a company by way of an action instituted in his own name.

With regard to the contention that only members present at the original meeting can vote for the president at a future meeting, the court found that: “There can be no legal basis that an absent member should be excluded from participating in the election of officers,” and that “it would be unfair and oppressive to deny a member a right to vote because he was absent at a previous meeting”.

The court also found that “the members in a general meeting have the right and ability to set right any irregularities that may exist in the process”, and that it was clear that Tennis Jamaica needed to establish a more formalised voting process.

With regard to the request to restrict a member from voting on, or implementing, resolutions which are yet to be placed before the members, the court stated that would be “restricting, rather than enabling, the democratic process of the members’ meeting. The inevitable result would be to mire the administration of Tennis Jamaica in extensive legal actions which would fetter its operations”.

Whilst this decision clears the way for Tennis Jamaica to hold the EGM and have the members establish the appropriate way forward, in light of the observations of the court, the board of Tennis Jamaica decided at a special emergency meeting on Monday, February 29, 2016, to set a new date for the EGM in order to allow members to be apprised of the situation and to participate fully in the process of selecting a new administration. The new date for the EGM will be announced shortly.

It is the hope of Tennis Jamaica, that the ruling by the Court has put the issue to rest, and will allow the organisation to focus on its mission of promoting and developing the sport of tennis and contributing positively to the development of our country.