A High Court judge has ruled that a magistrate acted outside his authority in ordering the eviction of former minister Dennis Kellman, clearing the way for damages to be assessed in a judicial review.

Kellman, Minister of Housing and Lands under the last Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration, was awarded damages in a civil suit which he brought against the magistrate in 2022.

But Roger Forde, SC, legal counsel for then-sitting magistrate Wayne Clarke, first defendant, and the Attorney General, second defendant, promptly gave notice he would be appealing the order handed down on Thursday by Justice Michelle Weekes.