Government moves to push through Legal Notice 277– NEW LAWS TO PICK TOP COP

GOVERNMENT has drafted legislation that will give a fresh mandate to the recently installed Police Service Commission (PSC) to select candidates for the posts of Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and those chosen to act in these positions.

Legal Notice 277 of 2021, which will be brought to Parliament at the earliest opportunity, replaces two pieces of legislation – Legal Notice 183 of 2021 and Legal Notice 103 of 2009.

Leader of Government business in the Lower House, Camille Robinson-Regis, told Newsday that the matter is a “top priority” and at the next sitting it will be laid. Parliament was adjourned to a date to be fixed after a sitting on Wednesday where the TT Revenue Authority bill was debated.

Legal Notice 277 became necessary after Justice Nadia Kangaloo ruled that the two previous laws were invalid. Paragraph 4 of Legal Notice 183, was deemed “superfluous” by the judge.

Kangaloo delivered the judgement on October 14, in a request for an interpretation of the Constitution regarding the then acting appointment of former CoP Gary Griffith.

The request was brought by social activist Ravi Balgobin.

Legal Notice 277 mandates that the PSC submit the names of candidates to act as Commissioner of Police (CoP) and DCP to the President who will then submit it to Parliament for approval.

Prior to Legal Notice 183, which was drafted to “simplify” the selection process for a CoP, acting positions for both CoP and DCP were at the discretion of the PSC.

Legal Notice 183 changed that to allow the Parliament to confirm the acting position of CoP and allowed for the first time to allow non-serving members of the police service to act as CoP as long as they were previously contracted to do so.

Legal Notice 277 also dictates that the PSC establish and maintain an Order of Merit list for candidates who may be chosen to act as top cop or DCP. The length of time this list is valid for was not stated.

These issues were raised leading up to the collapse of the previous PSC headed by Bliss Seepersad, after Griffith was appointed to act as CoP, and then suspended while he was on vacation.

In his place DCP McDonald Jacob was appointed acting CoP.

Kangaloo’s judgement nullified the acting position of both men and made it illegal to appoint anyone else to act without Parliament’s approval. With the collapse of the Seepersad-led PSC the post of CoP and acting CoP remains vacant.

For the position of top cop and DCP, the PSC must advertise the vacancy in two daily newspapers, for at least three days in a given week. Candidates will undergo security vetting and other assessments.

After an Order of Merit List is compiled, it will be sent to the President who will forward it to Parliament. Parliament will also receive a dossier compiled by the PSC which will include the candidate’s application and biography. The Merit List will be valid for a year.

GRIFFITH: MOVES TO GET RID OF ME

Griffith, in response to Legal Notice 277, said it was a blatant attempt at ensuring that the Seepersad completed merit list never comes to Parliament, thereby stopping his chances of returning as CoP.

The Seepersad-led PSC submitted an Order of Merit List to the President on August 11, but later withdrew it. The Opposition suggested the withdrawal was politically influenced.

Griffith in a voice recording sent to Newsday said: “This seems to be the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle of a deliberate attempt to manipulate the process or try to, and it is the ultimate conspiracy at the highest level.

“These individuals who have done this have affected the Office of the President and the Police Service Commission.”

Griffith said there was nothing wrong with the previous PSC’s Merit List and opined that Legal Notice 277 seeks to invalidate the list.

He added that if the Parliament did not want to select him or any other candidate, they could do so without scrapping the existing merit list.

He said with an 89 per cent public approval in him to return as CoP, the Government is turning its back on the phrase, the voice of the people, is the voice of God.

He said the drafted legislation stops him from acting as CoP since it only allows for DCPs and Assistant Commissioners to do so.

He said if the Legal Notice is allowed to become law, then Cabinet can, at their whim and fancy, change laws to get the outcome they want, whenever they have an issue with a selection process.

“That is an imminent sign of dictatorship. The country must stand up and realise this is what you call a creeping dictatorship.”

He said the legal notice shows the “pettiness” of this Government and a level of “desperation by certain individuals.”

He further accused acting Attorney General Stuart Young of “rushing” the Legal Notice 277 at the last minute, just before Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi resumes duty on his return on Friday from an overseas trip.