No document explaining decision to drop law enforcement requirement for FID head

 

The government has admitted that there is no documentation explaining why the law enforcement requirement for the top job at the Financial Investigations Division (FID) was dropped.

 

Information Minister Senator Dr. Dana Morrison made the admission that the Energy Ministry's press conference on Tuesday morning. 

 

She was responding to a report from The Gleaner that the Office of the Services Commission (OSC) had denied its Access to Information (ATI) requests for records explaining the removal of the minimum requirement of 12 years law enforcement experience, including five at a senior level. 

 

"Under the Access to Information Act, when a request is made, it's a request for documents. Where there are no documents, the request cannot be honoured. So what I have said today is conversations that would have taken place as a part of the interview process. That's not a document, so that cannot be provided under an ATI request. And so I'm giving you the information now, not as an ATI request, but just in terms of the questions that have been asked in the media. And from all of my checks, it was a process that was followed. The candidate with the highest score was the person who was offered the position," Dr. Morris Dixon maintained. 

 

Responding to a Gleaner ATI request in June 27, the Attorney General's chambers disclosed only three documents and stated that the "other official documents that were identified as relating to the request are exempt...[and] will therefore not be disclosed. 

 

According to The Gleaner, Solicitor General Marlene Aldred did not make any claim that any documents are non-existent. She instead said they were exempt under Sections 17(b)(i) and 22 of the ATI law. Those sections relate to breaches of confidence and unreasonable disclosure of personal information.