The Editor, Sir:

I read the news of the dismissal of the members of the Public Service Commission with a tinge of sadness.

The onus was never going to be on the Governor-General, Professor Kenneth Hall, as regardless of his having the 'final' say in any such dismissal, it would always have been a political (government) decision.

I am a staunch supporter of the Privy Council as the final appellate court of Jamaica. Indeed, I was heartened when in 2005 the then JLP Opposition was firmly against the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) being the final court, given that the previous PNP Government had not acted in accordance with the rule of law in coming to its decision.

Before the deluge of mail and shouts of my 'plantation mentality' swells the mailbag of the editor, permit me to say this - I am wholly unconvinced that there is the level of transparency, distance and independence of politics from other spheres of society in Jamaica for me to have the trust and confidence in a Caribbean government (and, therefore, politically) appointed CCJ.

Corruption rife

Indeed, this current impasse with the Public Service Commission (PSC) bears this out. In our little island, corruption, despotism and 'me-ism' are too rife, too much in the forefront, and too arbitrary for the average citizen to feel a level of comfort that his case being dealt with fairly and justly.

One has to look no further than to Nigeria and Pakistan where, now that they have their own final appellate courts, citizens' rights seem more subject to the whim of politicians than anything else.

With the Privy Council, the 'Law Lords' sitting in the Privy Council have no 'axe to grind'. They have no political agenda to follow, they have no 'previous history' with potential solicitors general. They can, therefore, arbitrate in a sterile atmosphere, concerned solely with the rule of law, the proper separation of powers, justice and human rights.

On February 3, 2005, when the Privy Council declared that the three CCJ-related companion bills passed by the PNP Parliament were unconstitutional and, therefore, void. It was Mr. Golding who said that it was contemptuous of the Jamaican Government to seek t the rights of the people without consulting them through a referendum as was required by law. The current position with the dismissal of the PSC begs the question - is this a similar contemptuous regard?

Have the Prime Minister's words come back to haunt? As the saying goes, 'The higher the monkey climbs, the more he's exposed'.

Let's hope that when this matter returns from the Privy Council, the decision will confirm the contempt and disregard that successive governments insist on displaying to the Jamaican people; and remind us of the need for a non-politicised third party, i.e., the Privy Council, to uphold the rule of law.

I am, etc.,

JENNIFER HOUSEN

Caribbean Legal Practice Institute

jjhousen@yahoo.com