PM’s fight against IC ruling continues today
Published:Friday | November 8, 2024 | 12:11 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The legal challenge brought by Prime Minister Andrew Holness to have an Integrity Commission (IC) report on his financial affairs invalidated will continue today in the Supreme Court.
Holness, through his legal team, is seeking to convince Justice Althea Jarrett to permit him to apply for a judicial review of the investigation and its associated final report released by Parliament on September 17.
“I believe that the tabling of the report was intended to embarrass and cause harm to me, and as such was made for an improper purpose and in bad faith to prejudice and harm me,” he said, adding that it sought to impute “criminal and unethical conduct to me and the other applicants”.
Holness applied to the Supreme Court on September 30 for several administrative orders, including the review.
In the controversial 171-page report, the IC’s director of investigation, Kevon Stephenson, said he could not conclude on the question of illicit enrichment, highlighted unexplained financial discrepancies in Holness’ 2021 income filings, and raised questions about tax compliance and transactions of over $470 million involving connected companies.
The IC, which said it could not certify the income declaration, referred the matter to the Financial Investigations Division, citing Holness’ failure to provide expense details.
However, Holness has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the report is flawed and unfairly suggests unethical and criminal conduct by him and affiliated firms.
He wants the Supreme Court to terminate all investigations into his financial affairs, invalidate the report, strike down the provisions of the Integrity Commission Act, and declare sections of the Corruption Prevention Act used to probe illicit enrichment as “unconstitutional”.
He is contending that the probe into his filings for 2019-2022 was premised on what he believes is an “unconstitutional” provision of the Corruption Prevention Act (CPA) – Section 14 (5) – which outlines that a person who fails to satisfactorily explain their wealth relative to their earnings commits the offence of illicit enrichment. He asserted that the provision undermines persons’ constitutional entitlement to the presumption of innocence and should be struck down.
Holness, his company, Imperium Investments Holdings Limited, and two other connected entities – Positive Media Solutions Limited and Positive Jamaica Foundation – are seeking judicial review.
Their case is being led by King’s Counsel Georgia Gibson-Henlin of the law firm Henlin Gibson Henlin.
The respondents are two senior commission executives – Director of Information and Complaints Craig Beresford (first respondent) and the director of investigations (second respondent) – and the commission itself (third respondent).
The firm Hylton Powell is representing the IC and its officials. The lead attorney is King’s Counsel Michael Hylton, a former solicitor general of Jamaica.