Importance of the Privy Council ruling

I PRODUCE and present a radio programme with de madame titled Blue Soap Sessions on 103.1 FM every Wednesday at noon. Discussions hinge on perspectives sometimes overlooked in day-to-day news coverage.

Admittedly, the prospect of tackling the recent Privy Council ruling on the show was a bit nerve-wracking. Unravelling impenetrable legalese is a tall order, not to mention a bloody headache. We considered, though, there are many other citizens this ruling would slip by precisely because the information is too sinewy to process.

The Government and Attorney General, in particular, are likely banking on the fact that few citizens would trouble themselves to watch the entirety of the recorded proceedings.

For his part, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi immediately got out in front of the news, attempting to downplay the ruling. He practically pulled a muscle trying to spin it as a “run of the mill judicial application.” On that score, he is quite right.

Revelations from the proceedings, however, are far more important than the ruling itself. I sat down and watched the recording of the session and read every published account of what was said by the law lords on the subject.

With the unique platform of a radio show, we decided to try to help listeners have a better understanding of the key issue at play here. It isn’t about what the law lords “didn’t instruct” as the AG intimated in his response to the news. More compelling are the questions they raised during the hearing. It’s these questions that should make every citizen sit up in bed at night.

You see Ravi Balgobin Maharaj was seeking disclosure of witness statements related to Petrotrin’s catastrophic World Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant deal. These witness statements were being sought under the Freedom of Information Act.

Here is why this is important: they are said to be pivotal to the advice given to the government by Vincent Nelson QC that legal action against former Petrotrin executive chairman, the late Malcolm Jones, would not succeed. Nelson is said to be the same attorney who advised the PP government to pursue a case against Jones.

The Privy Council law lords made some important observations. They referenced a statement made by a PNM government minister in October 2015 suggesting the US$97 million claim against the progenitor of the GTL debacle, Jones, was likely to be abandoned. This was a full two days before the Government received written advice on the matter from attorney Nelson. So, how could a government minister prophesy an outcome contained in advice yet to be given?

Nelson reportedly advised, “There is a reasonable likelihood a judge will be persuaded there was a bad business decision but no negligence.” The Privy Council law lords, however, questioned why the State would discontinue a multi-million dollar claim based only on one paragraph of legal advice. Ultimately, the Privy Council held that it is in the public’s interest to disclose the witness statements in question.

The failed GTL plant deal is a monument to financial mismanagement costing this country billions. It is the set piece in a decades-long legacy of bungling, political influence peddling and incalculable waste at Petrotrin. These factors culminated in the destruction of thousands of jobs and fallout that will endure for years to come.

Ultimately, the Privy Council ruling is a victory for transparency. All governments must be made to understand they can’t make decisions with profound consequences for the nation and simply tell citizens it’s none of their business.

In swiftly moving developments, as this column was being written, it was being reported that the Prime Minister announced he instructed the Energy Minister to clear Petrotrin (or what’s left of it) to release the contested witness statements. By the time you read this column, the statements may or may not have been released. The truth is there may be nothing to the witness statements, or there may be everything.

What is most important here is the right of the public to know either way. The PM is to be congratulated for acting in the public’s interest, albeit countless sums in lawyers’ fees later. As insignificant as the ruling was to the AG, it was sufficient to prod the PM to act. For that, we must all be grateful.

Toxic mold thrives in darkness. Similarly, autocratic governance is nourished by the darkness of citizens’ ignorance. The Privy Council ruling was one ray of cleansing light.