Attorney General John Jeremie laid a validating statute in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament Friday to give retroactive legal-standing to the Commission of Enquiry into the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) and the construction sector. UDeCOTT is challenging the state on that, arguing that the enquiry cannot have retroactive legitimacy.
The commission is on indefinite hold because the non-publication in the Gazette meant that its work so far has lacked legal standing. That was the reason commission chairman John Uff gave when he suspended the hearings earlier this month.
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Government reacted to the suspension by promising to plug the legal loophole with a validation bill. At the same time Jeremie said that retired Justice of Appeal Anthony Lucky would conduct an "urgent probe" on how the Government failed to comply with the legal requirement to publish the holding of the commission of enquiry in the Gazette.
The government laid the validation bill in Parliament on the same day that a High court judge granted UDeCOTT leave to file for judicial review and challenge the validity of the commission.
Justice Mira Dean-Armorer has set next Friday to hear oral application on what interim reliefs will be granted while the substantive matter is being heard.
UDeCOTT is asking commissioners not to proceed any further with the inquiry until the matter is concluded. It also wants to block the commissioners from preparing any report until then.
UDeCOTT's challenge is based on the fact that the commission has no legal standing because it was never gazetted. It is also arguing that the commission does not have retroactive effect although it was published in an extraordinary edition of the Gazette on September 11.
It is also claiming bias by former commissioner Israel Khan and commissioner Sirju.
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