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Mickel Jackson
By Nakinskie Robinson
Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) is proposing more stringent sanctions for delinquent parliamentarians and public officials under the Integrity Commission Act.
JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson says existing sanctions must be firm and unavoidable for those found guilty of an offence.
In the case of statutory declaration filings, section 43 of the Integrity Commission Act, 2017 says it is an offence to file late, make a false declaration to the Commission, or fail to provide information upon request to the Director of Information and Complaints.
Failure to comply, without reasonable cause, may be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months.
Ms. Jackson says the recommendation has been made to the Joint Select Committee considering the Integrity Commission Act.
"What one needs to ensure is that there is not a loophole in avoiding possible corruption charges by also increasing the terms of imprisonment, increasing the amount of fines, so that if it is that one makes a false statement, it is treated with a level of seriousness that it deserves. I mean deliberately misleading the Integrity Commission. And there are some similar recommendations that the Integrity Commission has made in its annual report that I think it is worth bringing the public's attention to," she outlined.
She noted the Integrity Commission's statement in its annual report that financial institutions are also failing to comply with the entity's requests for information, suggesting this would "impede the timeliness of the investigations and the time within which they are finalised".
Ms. Jackson said these gaps must be closed to allow the Integrity Commission to act with the level of efficiency and probity that civil society groups and the public have been calling for.
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