Judicial and Legal Service Bill 2024 passed

THE Miscellaneous Provisions (Judicial and Legal Service) Bill 2024 was passed via majority vote on September 9, despite claims by opposition and independent senators that it was “unfair” and “impossible” to ask them to support it without seeing a copy of the Stanley John report into the missing file at the AG's office that resulted in a $20 million default judgment in favour of nine men formerly accused of murder and kidnapping.

The government hired John and former ACP Pamela Schullera-Hinds to probe the state’s failure to defend a malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by the nine men acquitted of murdering businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman in 2006.

Speaking at a media conference after the default judgment in January 2023, Attorney General Reginald Armour claimed the Naipaul-Coolman file had “disappeared” from the Office of the Solicitor General, a day after it was served in June 2020. The file mysteriously reappeared after the default judgment.

The bill proposed restructuring divisions in the Legal Affairs Ministry, including merging the chief state solicitor and solicitor general departments.

The Government has pointed to the report and in-house issues found in during the investigation as factors contributing to the changes proposed in the bill.

It was passed in the House of Representatives on July 3, despite the opposition’s objections.

Debate began in the Senate on July 4 and was halted on July 5 as the Senate adjourned for its mid-year recess.

When debate resumed on September 9, the majority of independent and opposition senators said they should be allowed to see the report and accused the government of hiding it from the public.

Opposition senator Jayanti Lutchmedial said the government was encouraging speculation and fostering distrust by refusing to make the report public.

She said Armour’s reason for not disclosing the report was hypocritical as she pointed to the government’s attempt to lay the Stanley John report into allegations of corrupt practices surrounding the issuance of firearm users’ licences during Gary Griffith’s time as police commissioner.

John was appointed by the Police Service Commission (PSC) in August 2021 to investigate the allegations but Griffith later filed an injunction preventing the report from being laid in Parliament.

“The Attorney General said he is not disclosing it because we vilify people and so on and we make comments about them but he names the person (who produced the report).

“There are two Stanley John reports. There is one they were rushing to bring to Parliament and they ended up getting injuncted and they couldn’t lay that one. Then there is this one they want to hide. There is selective vilification of people. (It is only) when they want to vilify or find fault with somebody and run their mouth over people they could bring reports…Miss me with the selective outrage!”

She said it was unfair to deprive senators of the report and still ask them to support the bill.

“If you say there is some sort of issue or mischief you want to correct, no problem, follow the process and give everybody the opportunity to examine it and be confident we are doing the right thing.”

She added the proposed title change of some jobs as a result of the merger could also affect the work of the Salary Review Commission and asked whether the title changes were recommended in the report.

“Is that supposed to prevent another $20 million file from going missing?”

Independent senator Hazel Thompson-Ahye said the wording of the bill left some legal officers concerned about the possibility of an attorney general influencing public servants.

“The next office holder may be wide on brains, and even girth, but slim in integrity. History may not absolve us if we make track for agouti to run.”

Independent senator Sunity Maharaj asked if there was an existing procedure or process to hold the person responsible for the missing file accountable.

“If we don’t know what the findings are and what was the cause of the problem, why are we to believe the system being put in place now is aligned to the lapses that have occurred?”

She suggested the government produce a redacted or summarised version of the report to explain what happened.

Dr Paul Richards supported Maharaj’s suggestion saying it was impossible to discuss the bill without seeing the report.

“It’s like taking on a task without having any context and just doing something for doing it sake.”

Armour, in response, maintained he would not release the report as it contained remarks that were “grave but not justiciable.

“There are very serious remarks made in that report…that point at named persons.

“I am looking to the future of improving the civil law department and I’m not going to be distracted by the media or opposition going after those people if I were to make it public.”

The bill went to committee stage and was then passed with all but one independent senator voting for it as Sunity Maharaj abstained. All the opposition senators voted against it.

The fourth session of the 12th Parliament was prorogued after both Houses resumed business on September 9 following their recent annual recess.

The fifth and final session of this Parliament will begin on September 13.