Panday says Judicial & Legal Services Commission must do its job or quit

Trinidad and Tobago Opposition leader Basdeo Panday on Thursday suggested that the independence of the country's independent Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) has been compromised and said if the JLSC does not have the fortitude to stand up to the Prime Minister and "assert its competence and independence" members must "resign forthwith."

Panday was commenting on the failure of the commission to appoint a solicitor general to fill the position that has been vacant since 2005. He said it is a national scandal that no one is even acting in the post and said it facilitates government corruption.

"How can the government and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) allow an important statutory office such as that of the Solicitor General to remain unoccupied for more than three years? The JLSC claims procedural issues are hampering the appointment, but what has the JLSC or the government done in the last three years to fix these procedural problems so that a Solicitor General can be appointed?" Panday asked in a news release.

The post became vacant in 2005 when then Lynette Stephenson was appointed Ombudsman. The JLSC appointed Mark Terrence Thorne, Deputy Solicitor General, to act as Solicitor General for the period February 19, 2006 to June 30, 2006. However, when the acting appointment expired it did not make any further appointment.

Since then the duties of the Solicitor General have since been shared among the senior staff of the Solicitor General's Department.

Panday said several important questions arise.

"Firstly, is the hunt still on to find a Solicitor General or has the JLSC given up and settled for leaving this post vacant? How is it that Mr Thorne was competent enough to rise to the rank of Deputy Solicitor General and to act as SG for four months but not good enough to continue in the position? What about the other senior solicitors in the SG's Office? Is the JLSC saying that they are all not qualified to perform this job?

"The Chairman of the JLSC must come forward and make a statement on this matter because it does not stand to reason that if none of them are competent enough to even act as Solicitor General that putting them all together in a committee will result in a creature that is more competent than the most competent of the lot."

The former prime minister said the excuse of lengthy security clearance procedures hampering the appointment is very weak and illogical.

"In its 2007 annual report, the JLSC says the problem is security vetting of candidates; but you have a situation where there are about five senior persons who are inside the SG's office already who are suitable for this job. Those persons must have already passed the security vetting because they are already employed in the SG's office and are seeing documents intended for the eyes of the SG only.

"If they already have the clearance then this excuse does not prevent any of them from being appointed Solicitor General.

"On the contrary, if they have not passed or been subjected to the security vetting then the government and the JLSC have created a security leak because it has those same persons doing a job that required a security clearance."

Panday said he refuses to accept the flimsy excuse of difficulties with the security vetting, adding that he believes the real obstacle is the inability to "secure the Prime Minister's agreement" as stated in the 2007 JLSC annual report.

"That is a diplomatic way of saying the Prime Minister wants to handpick the Solicitor General, in the same way he handpicked the Commissioner of Police and attempted to handpick a Director of Public Prosecutions."

The Solicitor General heads the department which advises the State on all aspects of civil law by representing the State in constitutional matters and other civil proceedings, such as lawsuits against the State and by assisting in the formulation and execution of government policy within the limits of the law and vetting contracts involving government agencies.

Panday said, "It is clear from the amount of corruption being exposed on a daily basis that somebody is profiting by the absence of a proper appointee to the post of Solicitor General and it stands to reason that chaos is allowed to reign to facilitate corruption in government contracts because there is no-one guarding the gate and no-one to hold accountable for the corruption that is taking place.

"The JLSC must do its duty as it did in the case of the vacant DPP's Office and make a recommendation to fill the post of Solicitor General that has been vacant for over three years and it must stand by its recommendation.

"If the JLSC does not have the fortitude to stand up to the Prime Minister and assert its competence and independence then the members of the JLSC must resign forthwith," he said.