Special prosecutor law passed

Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer

GOVERNMENT SENATORS yesterday passed the Corruption Prevention (Special Prosecutor) Act seeking to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Corruption despite a walkout by opposition senators protesting what they described as an attempt to rush the 90-page bill through the Upper House.

The act, which was passed with 49 amendments, replaces the 2001 Corruption (Prevention) Act and the 1973 Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act, and empowers the special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute corrupt conduct of public officials, parliamentarians, and private persons

The draft legislation, which was first tabled in 2008, had come under close scrutiny by the Opposition, who had objected to a previous draft seeking to establish the special prosecutor's office as a parliamentary commission instead of a government department.

Leader of Opposition Business Senator A.J. Nicholson, who had earlier congratulated the Government on the revised legislation, suggested further deliberations on the bill be postponed until next week given the large number of amendments to be implemented.

"This piece of legislation is too far-reaching for us not to sit down meticulously and not look at each clause," Nicholson told the Upper House.

But Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Dorothy Lightbourne, said the legislation, which had already been reviewed through a joint select committee, should not be further delayed.

"Let us move on, put a bill in place, make a start, and then we can see all the problems that are likely to arise and we can address it," said Lightbourne, who noted that most of the provisions in the new bill were already in the existing legislation.

At yesterday's sitting, several senators also paid tribute to the late former South West St Elizabeth Member of Parliament Donald 'Danny Buck' Buchanan, who died last Monday, January 10.