Busy week for Parliament
Published:Monday | January 13, 2025 | 12:11 AM
Lawmakers have proposed a flurry of parliamentary activities this week as legislators rush to complete unfinished business before the prorogation of Parliament in February, which gives way to the start of the new legislative year.
In addition to six committee meetings, lawmakers will also return from their Christmas holidays to discuss the nation’s business at the first sitting of Parliament on Tuesday.
After a five-month pause, the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Integrity Commission (IC) Act will meet on Thursday to continue deliberations on the anti-corruption law.
It is not clear when this committee, which was established more than two years ago, will complete its deliberations on the IC law.
The IC has submitted a raft of recommendations for consideration by the committee. Several civil society groups have also made wide-ranging suggestions to boost Jamaica’s anti-corruption laws.
In its last three annual reports to Parliament, the IC has set out various proposals it believes will strengthen Jamaica’s anti-corruption framework.
The IC has repeatedly urged the Government to review the issue of conflict of interest and to consider promulgating legislation to clarify how this should be managed.
The staff orders of the public service require civil servants to declare conflicts of interest.
If found to be in breach of this stipulation in the staff orders, a public servant can be sanctioned through a disciplinary process. However, the IC wants this breach to rise to the level of a criminal offence.
The IC has recommended to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Justice that the body of local anti-corruption legislation be expanded to include the criminalisation of acts and or omissions that constitute the wilful and or negligent non-disclosure of conflict of interest.
The IC suggested that this legislation should be applicable to public servants operating at all levels of government as well as elected and appointed public officials.
Adverse impacts
In its 2023-2024 annual report, the IC said its recommendation was made against the background of the significant adverse impacts of conflicts of interest, which have the capacity to undermine legitimate decision-making, compromise the development and application of policy, distort the rule of law, and affect the allocation of public resources, thereby encouraging corruption.
Jamaica’s anti-corruption body also wants the IC law to be amended to allow for the disclosure of registrable interests.
According to the IC, given the complex nature of corruption-related investigations, the use of corporate vehicles and other illicit schemes, the commission is of the view that lawmakers should consider amending Section 29 of the ICA to require declarations from parliamentarians in relation to membership in political, trade, or professional organisations; contracts with the Government; directorship/beneficial interest in corporate bodies and government boards; beneficial interest in land; trustee or beneficiary of a trust; and any other substantial interest that may result in a potential conflict of interest.
The IC said this recommendation would assist in the commission’s efforts to detect and investigate matters relating to actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest and nepotism and other corruption-enabling acts.
The commission is also pushing for the implementation of anti-bribery laws, a recommendation made by the Crime Consensus Monitoring and Oversight Committee (CMOC) from 2020.
The IC wants the plugging of loopholes that could allow family members of parliamentarians to become conduits for bribes as lawmakers are allowed to obtain gifts from family without having to report them in their annual declarations.