Golding: IC code brings principles closer to individuals

Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding says despite the currency of the decades-old code of conduct for Cabinet ministers, there is still the need for Government ministers to sign the Integrity Commission’s Leadership Code of Conduct.

“There is a clear need for a more direct connection between the principle and the people who hold these offices and so inviting them to sign the document was a good idea,” Golding said in a Gleaner interview.

For the first time in seven months, Prime Minister Andrew Holness broke his silence on the ongoing debate about the code of conduct for Government ministers.

The Integrity Commission had invited Holness from November 2022 to sign the code, but to date, neither the prime minister nor any member of his Cabinet has inked the document.

In a statement on Tuesday, the prime minister declared in Parliament that every minister in his Cabinet is governed by the code of conduct in Ministry Paper 19, which was introduced by the P.J. Patterson administration of 2002.

Patterson, in response to a Gleaner query, said that Ministry Paper 19 would bind all ministers unless and until varied subsequently by the prime minister.

Holness said that the Patterson administration accepted the United Kingdom Nolan Committee Report of the Seven Principles of Public Life, including selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

But Golding reasoned that the code from the Patterson era was not something that individuals signed to.

“It is a document that governs the policy of the Government, but I think what the Integrity Commission was promoting is the idea of having individuals sign to these principles to sort of bring it home more directly to them what the principles are and that they are committing to adhering to them,” he said.

“I think that there is a role for people doing that, and, as you know, the entire Shadow Cabinet has signed the leadership code of conduct produced by the Integrity Commission, and I wanted each member to sign it individually rather than me as opposition leader sign it on their behalf,” Golding added.

LONG-STANDING PRINCIPLES

Last November, the Integrity Commission responded to queries from the Government’s information arm, the JIS, advising the agency that it embraced the Nolan Committee Report, which detailed the Seven Principles of Public Life introduced by the Patterson Government.

“The Seven Principles of Public Life, as laid out in the referenced Leadership Commitment Code of Conduct document, are long-standing principles that have been advanced as underpinning conduct in public life and which warrant reaffirmation,” the commission said.

In his presentation on Tuesday, the prime minister said a joint select committee of Parliament would among other things, consider “certain working documents towards developing our own code of conduct, which will include Ministry Paper 19”.

“It cannot be good for this institution that the society must tell us the standards to which we must adhere. We are not a Parliament of children. We must be the body that leads the setting of standards and carry the people with us,” Holness said.

He said that the principles of public life must also apply to members of parliament and persons who work and hold positions in the public service.

Golding argued that the previous administration of which he was a member and the current Holness Government were quite familiar with Section 6(1)(g) of the Integrity Commission Act. The provision states that it is a function of the commission “to prepare codes of conduct and other advisory material relating to corruption”.

He said the Integrity Commission can also produce codes of conduct for other public servants.

“They have a general mandate to try and encourage probity and transparency in public life,” he noted.

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