IC submits 5 reports, rulings to House for tabling

WHEN LAWMAKERS next meet at Gordon House, five investigation reports from the Integrity Commission (IC) will be before the Speaker for tabling. Indicative rulings from the director of corruption prosecutions have also been submitted.

Jamaica’s chief anti-corruption body dispatched the reports and their indicative rulings to Parliament on Tuesday and they were received and signed for at 11:22 a.m.

The commission says hard copies of the investigation reports were submitted in separate envelopes, under cover of identical letters, addressed to the president of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson; Speaker of the House, Juliet Holness; and Colleen Lowe, clerk to the Houses of Parliament.

The indicative rulings were also addressed and submitted in separate envelopes.

A USB flash drive, with electronic copies of all documentation submitted, was also conveyed.

The IC says it anticipates that its investigation reports, which were submitted in conformance with Section 54 of the Integrity Commission Act, together with the associated indicative rulings, will be tabled in both Houses of Parliament as soon as possible.

Section 54(4) of the I ntegrity Commission Act provides that: “Where the report (from the director of investigation) to the commission has a recommendation under Subsection (3), the commission shall submit it to Parliament for tabling … .”

The November 7, 2023 ruling of Speaker Holness stated that reports from the director of investigation submitted under Section 54(4) will be tabled “as soon as possible” after receipt by Parliament.