Amend Integrity Act for extension

GOVERNMENT has been tardy in not making available the declarations of assets forms under the Integrity in Public Life Act. However, surely they have the power to amend the Act to further extend the time to enable filing of the forms. That was the view expressed yesterday by some members of the legal fraternity as it related to the controversy surrounding the readiness of the forms. Government has decided to send the forms to be scrutinised by a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament, which has a December 1 deadline to report back to Parliament. The Opposition UNC has argued that by giving the committee such a deadline, it would exempt all public officials from declaring their assets, liabilities and income for the year 2002. The Integrity in Public Life Act 2000 states in Section 11 (subsection 1), that all persons in public life should file their declarations by May 31 of each year. However, subsection 2 states that the Commission can grant a further six-month extension to allow the filing of declarations. That deadline expires on November 30.

Prominent attorney and former Director of Legal Aid, Israel Khan SC, agreed that Government was tardy in not ensuring the forms were ready. However he argued that a further extension of the time to file the forms was not an issue, since “they can go back to Parliament and get an extension.” Khan also pointed out that the additional time spent to scrutinise the forms was also not a bad thing, in that it would reduce the risk of errors and future problems. His views were echoed by attorneys Martin George, who is also president of Crime Stoppers, and Hendrickson Seunath SC, secretary of the Law Association. Speaking in his capacity as an attorney in private practice, Seunath said it was better for Government to take its time and to have the forms in proper order. He said without seeing the Act, it stands to reason that Government also had the power to grant a further extension. George too said while it was difficult to comment without examining the Act and the issue, the delay was unacceptable. But he said in a civilised society it was better to err on the side of caution,  rather than rush.

The Office of the Attorney General offered no comment on the issue of amending the Act and efforts to get a comment on delay from the Integrity Commission was futile. Newsday was told that all questions should be posed to the Registrar Albert Alkins, who was not in office yesterday. Meanwhile, UNC Senator Wade Mark, who on Tuesday asked that his name be withdrawn as a member of the JSC, yesterday told Newsday in the interest of the public he will agree to serve on the ten-member committee. He said the other two Opposition members will most likely be Gillian Lucky and Subhas Panday. Government will have six members and there will be one independent Senator. Mark also agreed there should be an urgent amendment making the filing of declarations retroactive to 2000, the last time the forms were filed. He insisted it was a “conspiracy” by Government to appoint a JSC to scrutinise the forms with a deadline of December 1.