No role for Govt yet

ATTORNEY General Faris Al-Rawi on Tuesday said Government continues to maintain the constitutional “Great Wall of China” between itself and the Judiciary. Al-Rawi made this comment in reference to Monday’s reserved ruling by the Privy Council. That ruling involved an appeal made by Chief Justice Ivor Archie to the Privy Council against the Law Association’s investigation of alleged misconduct by him.

At the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Tower in Port of Spain, Al-Rawi told reporters, “Obviously one pays attention because the administration of justice is involved. We’ll just keep an eye on the position.

“There were reservations made and concessions made in the cases before the Privy Council.”

Al-Rawi also noted that the Law Association “resiled from its position of being a fact-finding, determinitive body and simply said they were on a different platform.”

He was uncertain “if that is what has driven the Privy Council’s reserved point.”

“At the end of the day, the Government has no role in that. We are not participants in that legal process.” Reiterating the importance of constitutional barriers in relation to the doctrine of Separation of Powers, Al-Rawi said, “You can’t confuse the legislative, executive and judicial roles You have to be scrupulous in your management of the boundaries of constitutionality.”

He explained this was the same way we “manage the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) or the PSC (Police Service Commission) wherever there is a constitutional prescription against involvement.”

Al-Rawi added that Government has to “obey those positions and abide by the outcome of the independent entities and then consider our own role, once informed of the process.”