Saturday, January 31, 2015 | 12:24 PM
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Representatives of the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) together with the university’s lawyers faced the Supreme Court on Wednesday for a hearing into an application for contempt of court, filed by student Duke Foote.
Foote, according to UTech, is seeking an order to have the registrar of the university committed to prison for contempt of court.
The university on Friday said it is “disappointed that this matter has resurfaced based on incorrect information that was presented to the court in order to obtain an order which was granted January 22, 2015”.
UTech said in his claim, and in the press, “Foote incorrectly stated that his fees were paid on time”.
The university has refuted this claim, citing that it wishes to make it clear that his statement is “absolutely untrue”.
“Mr Foote failed to pay his fees on time, and not because of any financial difficulty on his part, even though the deadline was twice extended. He now wishes the court to compel UTech to register him for certain semester two courses that he is not eligible to take,” the university said in a news release yesterday.
“He was advised by the university, of the modules that he would be eligible to pursue in this semester, including two law modules. Instead of registering for them, he applied to the court to be permitted to do other modules for which he is not qualified, based on the curriculum approved by the academic board,” the release continued.
UTech said Foote sought and obtained an order from the court without giving the university notice of his application as is required by the rules of court in circumstances such as these.
The release further said that the university is not prepared to make exceptions for students who, having received all the relevant notices in relation to the enrolment deadlines, and who have not sought any special consideration, seek to circumvent the policies of the university by filing cases in court.
“The University looks forward to its opportunity to be heard by the court when the case is next called up on February 9, 2015,” the release said.
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UTech awaits day in court
