Nicholson wants review of Commissions of Enquiry Act

Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer

A week after the report on the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry was tabled in Parliament, Opposition Senator A.J. Nicholson is calling for an immediate review of the Commissions of Enquiry Act.

Nicholson's motion via the Senate asks for his fellow senators to "urge the Government to conduct an immediate review of the Commissions of Enquiry Act, including seeking and receiving recommendations from members of the public, with a view, inter alia, to reform the method of appointment of commissioners under the act."

Prime Minister Bruce Golding unilaterally named the three-man commission last year to enquire into the events surrounding the extradition of ousted Tivoli Gardens don, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who was indicted by the United States and whose extradition was requested.

Lawmakers' duty

Nicholson said it could not be allowable for a head of government to "unilaterally appoint the commissioners or other arbiters who are to enquire into issues which touch and concern the conduct of the Government itself and to settle the terms of reference for such an enquiry".

According to Nicholson, a former attorney general and justice minister, "It was the duty of lawmakers in our country, which ought to subscribe to the long respected practices that obtain within the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, to ensure that any such empowering legislation is structured on that imperative."

The report of the commission, which was chaired by Queen's Counsel (QC) Emil George, and which included Donald Scharschmidt, QC, as well as trade unionist Anthony Irons, has received significant flak from the Opposition as well as several civil-society groups for issuing only a slap on the wrist to some public officials, despite less-than-credible testimonies.

Up to yesterday, the latest groups bashing the report were the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and human rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice.

The Government says it has accepted the report, but several influential groups and commentators have called the document worthless.

See letter, 'Repeal useless Enquiry Act' in Letters section.