Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

A SENIOR parliamentarian has called for clarification on a critical provision in the Government's proposed anti-corruption law.

The legislation sets out sanctions against foreign public officials who contravene the Corruption Prevention (Special Prosecutor) Act 2008.

The bill is intended to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Corruption, with the specific mandate to investigate and prosecute corrupt conduct of public officials, parliamentarians and private persons.

Senator K.D. Knight wants the Government to state clearly whether a diplomat could be arrested and prosecuted for breaching the impending tough legislation. He has also queried whether the property or embassy of a diplomat could be searched as part of investigations into alleged corrupt acts by the envoy.

Knight's questions were raised after deputy chief parliamentary counsel, Boswell Munroe, gave an overview of the legislation during a meeting yesterday, of a joint select committee of Parliament, to consider and report on the Corruption Prevention (Special Prosecutor) Act.

Clause 11 (3) of the Corruption Prevention (Special Prosecutor) Act indicates that, if foreign public officials or officials of a public international organisation were involved in corrupt acts, they would be subject to prosecution locally.

Foreign officials could be fined up to $1 million or serve prison terms not exceeding two years or be subject to both such fine and imprisonment if judgement were handed down in a Resident Magistrate's Court.

Conviction in a Circuit Court could attract a fine or imprisonment of up to five years.

Foreign public official

It is against this background that Knight a former minister of foreign affairs, asked whether an ambassador who is a foreign public official would be subject to the criminal law and procedures in Jamaica.

"If it is suspected that an ambassador at his or her residence has documents to implicate, would a search be carried out?" he asked.

Munroe told Knight that the Attorney General's Department would submit an answer to the query at the next meeting of the committee.

However, former solicitor general, Michael Hylton told The Gleaner yesterday that the fact that a person has diplomatic immunity and was not subject to prosecution did not mean that laws should not be drafted to indicate that it was an offence for them to do certain things.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com