JFJ head wants constitutional protection for Integrity Commission

Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice Mickel Jackson is pushing for the Integrity Commission to become a constitutional body.

In her submission to a joint select committee reviewing the Integrity Commission Act, 2017, Jackson suggested that such a move would provide greater protection for the agency against legislative changes that could threaten its independence.  

“The fact of the matter is that when you have a body like this that reports to parliament and there are certain provisions within the law that can be changed, (it) may very well stand the possibility of undermining some operational provisions that would safeguard its independence,” the JFJ boss explained.

“We are putting our recommendation on record that the Integrity Commission should join with the recommendation of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica and the anticipated Human Rights Commission to becoming constitutional bodies,” she added.

Jackson observed that the single anti-corruption body was established primarily to investigate and prosecute acts of corruption in the public sector.

However, she said that in instances where there are differences of opinion between the director of corruption prosecution at the commission and the director of public prosecutions, the Constitution gives the latter supremacy, in terms of a decision on whether  to prosecute.

“If it is that the Integrity Commission does not become a constitutional body, this can cause hiccups when it is time for cases to be prosecuted if there is a difference of opinion.”

She pointed to legislation in Uganda that gives constitutional backing to its anti-corruption body.

The JFJ also recommended that the law be amended to give the commission powers of arrest and that of a justice of the peace.

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