THE NEED to have meaningful anti-corruption legislation approved by Parliament in the near future was one of the recommendations emanating from Tuesday's seminar on the Corruption Prevention Act hosted by the Media Association of Jamaica at the Hilton Hotel.
Last year the Corruption Prevention Bill was passed in the Lower House and sent to the Senate for approval. Amendments to the Bill by the Senate required that it be sent back to the Lower House.
The Bill, met with strong opposition because of Clause six which proposed a jail term and punitive fine on the media for publishing information obtained from the files of the proposed Corruption Commission.
The Bill was then referred to a joint select committee of Parliament and since then there has been no indication from the Government as to when it will again be presented in Parliament.
While the opposition of the media to Clause six remains undiminished and we expect that this clause will be removed from the final Bill, we support the recommendations of the MAJ's seminar that anti-corruption legislation needs to be put in place without much more delay.
We expect the legislation to strike the very delicate balance between the individual's right to privacy and the right of the public to information. Some of the issues raised by Attorney-General A. J. Nicholson in a presentation to the seminar will add to the vigour of the debate. Mr. Nicholson starts from the premise that a "society which is imprisoned by corruption is a society which cannot be truly free".
In his view there are realities that the society has to face on the issue of corruption. He includes among them the reality that corruption has become a pervasive force affecting all sectors. That with liberalisation and the growing importance of the private sector, the debate on corruption can no longer be confined only to the public sector but is related to the exercise of power.
Mr. Nicholson is also of the view that in the interest of transparency and accountability those who provide services such as electricity, water and communications should be added to the list of persons who are required to disclose their assets. The Attorney-General is prepared to cast the disclosure net even wider to include the Press and information on the funding of political parties.
The Media Association seminar was a useful beginning in extending the scope of the debate. There should be other opportunities for public input before the Corruption Prevention Law comes into effect.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
