Ramesh leads Integrity action against Govt

FORMER Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj will be leading legal proceedings in the High Court to force Government to implement the provisions of the Integrity in Public Act 2000.

In a release yesterday, the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Rights Association (TTCRA) said Maharaj will be heading a team of lawyers on its behalf in proceedings against Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the Cabinet “for not performing their mandatory duty to uphold the Constitution and the law by their refusal and/or neglect to implement” the Act. The TTCRA said its application contends that since the People’s National Movement (PNM) took office in December 2001, “over $30 billion of taxpayers’ money has been spent, Government has refused to implement the Act and Government ministers and persons in public life “have escaped the provisions of this law and have not made and are not making any declarations to the Integrity Commission.” “The Integrity Commission therefore cannot investgiate to determine whether ministers of Government or persons in public life are corrupt,” the Association added.

The TTCRA said while the prescribed forms and regulations made by the Commission were laid in Parliament on September 7 2001, Parliament was prorogued before they could be approved. The application, the Association continued, is asking the Court for an Order of Mandamus against Manning, the Cabinet and Attorney General Glenda Morean to lay the prescribed forms and regulations (made by the Integrity Commission) in Parliament and Cabinet must take steps to implement the laws passed by  Parliament and “it cannot frustrate the will of the Parliament.” The TTCRA said its actions were in keeping with the provisions of the Judicial Review Act 2000 which “empowers public-spirited organisations to challenge governmental action, even though the organisation may not be directly affected by the wrong.” The Association added that under the Judicial Review Act 2000, the Registrar of the Supreme Court has a duty to publish notice of this application and other public interest groups and individuals can make an application to the Court to join the applicant and be part of the action. Other members of the TTCRA’s legal team are Darrell Allahar and Rikki Harnanan while Garnet Mungalsingh is the instructing attorney. TTCRA secretary Agnes Dara Young-Hoo told Newsday the Association is a wholly philanthropic, non-profit organisation incorporated under the laws of Trinidad and Tobago by the Companies Act of 1995 on March 12, 2003. The Court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the matter.