It was interesting to hear Brian Clarke reveal in his eulogy that the Late Prime Minister David Thompson was not passionate about the legal profession. In contrast we understand Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart has a great love for the profession. It will be left to Prime Minister Stuart to champion the Prevention of Corruption Bill 2010 commonly referred to as Integrity Legislation (IL) which had its first reading in parliament recently. Time will tell if Stuart is motivated to enthusiastically chart the efficient implementation and application of Integrity Legislation.
The current debate in Barbados is when will Prime Minister Stuart ring the bell to call a general election constitutionally due in 2013, a state of affairs brought about by the death of David Thompson. In the opinion of BU the proclamation of IL and Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation will be critical to the decision to determining the date of the next general election. Although Stuart has been catapulted into the current role based on the unfortunate circumstance of Thompson’s death, as a member of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) opposition campaign platform he would have endorsed the promise to deliver IL and FOI legislation as tools to fight soft corruption in Barbados on winning the government. Three years have past and the people are still waiting. If the two pieces of legislation are not rolled out before the next general election the opposition will have the making of a platform agenda.
Feedback from our legal and political sources confirm that the Prevention of Corruption Bill 2010 is one of the most complete and far-reaching pieces of legislation ever brought to the fore in Barbados. It is believed that the bill [IL] as drafted should make its way very easily through the process. Much if not all of the credit for drafting the legislation should go to the current Prime Minister performing in his former role as Attorney General. Top of mind for Prime Minister Stuart must be the possibility of the IL trail blazing legislation being hijacked if the DLP were to lose the next general election. If such an eventuality were to occur it would taint the Thompson legacy for sure.
To ‘operationalize’ IL a group of commissioners will have to be appointed to apply the legislation with a high level of transparency required under the tabled legislation. The criteria for selecting commissioners although clearly articulated in the Prevention of Corruption Bill 2010 is required to be done with some finesse. We could select people from the old boys club of which Stuart should be very familiar or we could buck the status quo by selecting those who would resist the tentacles of influence.
BU’s best research has tossed up the following names who would make up a group of fearless Commissioners:
- Sir Denys Williams Q.C.
- Sir Frederick Smith Q.C.
- Mr Errol Chase Q.C.
- Mr Frederick Waterman Q.C.
- Mr Vernon Smith Q.C.
- Andrew Pilgrim
- Mrs Beverley Walrond Q.C.
- Mr Michael Springer Q.C.
To support the list above BU understands we have some celebrated foreign jurists who are members of the Barbados Bar. Sir Gavin Lightman, a retired QC and English Chancery judge is one example. The inclusion of Andrew Pilgrim should not raise eyebrows. He is young and a little brash but one of the few who practice law in our stuffy court system who is not afraid to challenge the system. In essence we want Commissioners who will do a job more so than being rewarded because they are ‘one of the boys’. For example BU would not expect to see Leslie Haynes, David Simmons or Johnny Cheltenham appointed as Commissioners.
The coming days and weeks will be pregnant with expectation.
Your move Prime Minister Stuart!
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