Phillips MOUs needed Cabinet approval - Leys

SOLICITOR GENERAL Douglas Leys said yesterday that the two memoranda of understanding (MOU) entered into by Dr Peter Phillips on behalf of Jamaica with the United States and the United Kingdom should have received Cabinet approval.

Phillips signed the two MOUs in 2004 while he was minister of national security.

"This is a document which, firstly, as the representative of Jamaica, I am not aware of the statutory authority under which he would be acting because, as we know, ministers are from time to time vested with statutory authority, and it is surely my view that they would have a jurisdiction to bind the Government of Jamaica if they had that statutory authority," the country's chief legal adviser said.

"Outside of that, my view is that where these MOUs have far-reaching implications, namely, constitutional implications, then surely, before the minister signs there should be some directive from the Cabinet."

The MOUs in question have been used by the United States as its reason for accessing the telephone conversations of accused drug kingpin Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. The Government has argued that the conversations were not captured in accordance with Jamaican law, but Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the US was "intransigent" in those discussions.