Justice Minister cautioned following comments regarding Integrity Commission

By Prince Moore    

 

President of Jamaica Evangelical Alliance Bishop Dr. Alvin Bailey is calling for Justice Minister Delroy Chuck to be mindful of the signal being sent to the public with utterances to Members of Parliament about not following certain requirements of the Integrity Commission.

 

Minister Chuck declared on Tuesday that he has advised Members of Parliament not to divulge the salaries of their spouses to the IC during the course of its investigations.

 

According to Mr. Chuck, it is not the business of the commission to obtain such information.

 

But Section 40 of the Integrity Commission Act states that a statutory declaration shall include information about the spouse and children of parliamentarians.

 

There are exceptions if the spouse is living separately from the person making the declaration for the period for which the declaration is being made.

 

It also gives an exception if the child reaches 18 years or is married and living separately from the person making the declaration at anytime.

 

Dr. Bailey believes the pronouncement by Mr. Chuck can be viewed as seeking to undermine the Integrity Commission which tries to uphold financial probity. 

 

"He should err on the side of embracing the kind of adherence for good public order. And then [the comment] doesn't speak to...all the persons who are implied or expected by the law to comply, it simply singles out MPs, which is unfortunate. I really do think that to advance this kind of argument, though, can be tantamount to advancing anarchy and we should really refrain," said the clergyman, who harkened back to Mr. Chuck's own recent comments that politicians must be careful of their utterances, especially in light of the upcoming parliamentary election. 

 

National Integrity Action said concerns raised by Justice Minister Delroy Chuck about requirements in the Integrity Commission Act for statutory declarations is an indication that many parliamentarians remain in the dark about the Integrity Commission Act.

 

NIA Principal Director Danielle Archer said it is concerning that some MPs are oblivious to the laws governing their operation. 

 

"I think it reminds us that a majority of our legislators simply don't read and they either choose not to understand or they don't make the time to understand the legislation that they have a responsibility to know," she argued.  

 

Both Ms. Archer and Dr. Bailey were guests Wednesday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines. 

 

The Integrity Commission has blasted Justice Minister Delroy Chuck over his comments before the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee of Parliament.

 

In a major push back on Wednesday afternoon, the IC described Minister Chuck's comments as "misguided".

 

The Commission made it clear that under the Integrity Commission Act, all parliamentarians and public officials are required to file statutory declarations, disclosing the income, assets and liabilities of their children and spouse, where applicable.