-says CCJ insulated from interference
Reacting to statements made by President Bharrat Jagdeo that it could possibly wield influence over the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) said on Wednesday it is disturbed by the suggestion saying the President is “well aware” of the arrangements in place to insulate the court from interference.
The regional cement company, in a full-page advertisement published in local newspapers yesterday, referred to the President’s comments about an existing link between its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Rollin Bertrand and the CCJ Trust Fund as damaging to the character of its CEO, noting too that the statements cast doubt over the integrity of the CCJ. The TCL group said the President, in his capacity as Caricom Chairman, is expected to properly represent the integrity of regional institutions.
“…President Jagdeo is a signatory to the Treaty establishing the CCJ and the CCJ Trust Fund, and as part of the original ‘design team’ he is well aware of the institutional arrangements that are in place to insulate the Court from any kind of interference-political or otherwise. These robust mechanisms which have been applauded by international onlookers will certainly be tested during the current imbroglio”, the group said.
But the Government Information Agency (GINA) released a statement on Wednesday saying the President was merely seeking to clarify ongoing media questions and reports that are “focusing on claims of conflict of interest” involving TCL. GINA said it was advised by the Office of the President that Jagdeo’s comments were factual and that the issue of conflict of interest was indeed a subject of deliberation by Caricom Heads. It added that Prime Minister, Dean Barrow of Belize was made responsible for addressing their concerns with the principals, saying too the President was under no obligation to be ambiguous in his representation despite TCL’s protestations.
The TCL statement that appeared in the ad went on to clarify the CCJ Trust Fund, which is chaired by Dr. Bertrand, is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of eminent persons in business, civil society and the judiciary, adding the Board also has representatives of the Secretary General and that two Guyanese are also members. Two Chief Justices have been trustees on the Board and have been party to the discussions on the “conflicts of interest” in the cases before the CCJ (TCL v Caricom and TCL v GoG), the statement said.
TCL rejected the President’s point about the trustees regularly interfacing with the Court stating that Jagdeo could not have been further from the truth. There are occasional exchanges between the two institutions, but these are always sanctioned by the Board the TCL group said while pointing out that the Court and the Fund interface through the CCJ Court Administrator and the Executive Officer of the Fund.
“When TCL took legal action against the Caribbean Community and the Government of Guyana, Dr. Rollin Bertrand immediately declared a ‘positional conflict of interest’ to the Board. Dr. Bertrand offered to give up the post of Chairman or even come off the Board, but after lengthy discussions and a legal opinion from eminent Senior Counsel, the Board agreed that Dr. Bertrand not step down”, the statement disclosed.
And in a response which was sent out via email Dr. Bertrand said he was deeply disappointed by Jagdeo’s comments. He said one of the major considerations of the Board in keeping him on when the TCL/GoG matter commenced was the signal the Fund would send if trustees resigned once they had matters before the Court. “Would this suggest that the Fund can influence the Court? Would we do more damage to the reputation of the Court by taking such action-even when we knew that an ‘informed observer’ could not conclude that the Court could be influenced by trustees?”
Dr. Bertrand said the only entity raising the issue of ‘conflict of interest’ in a negative way was the Government of Guyana. He said he is willing to give up his post on the Fund, but again pointed to what kind of signal it would send. He reiterated that the comments of President Jagdeo were unfortunate, but said the incident presents an opportunity for the public to learn about the Court.
TCL said no avenue exists for the Fund to exercise power over the CCJ judges. It explained the Fund was established to simply manage the US$100M initial capital raised by Caricom countries to fund the Court, when requested. The Fund, it continued, does not decide on the budget of the Court and it disburses money to the Court in quarterly installments. According to the statement, the Fund is powerless against the Court because its trustees have no say in Court expenses and also have no veto power over any financial request of the Court. Further, it said the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) establish and alter the terms and conditions of the judges.
Additionally, TCL referred to the matter of TCL v Caricom saying there was a representative of Caricom on the Board who was also ‘conflicted’. It noted that the representative of the Caribbean Congress of Labour on the Board would have been connected to TCL and TGI’s employees and could also said to have been in a “conflict of interest”. Still, it said TCL’s CEO has been cautious during the duration of the case with Guyana and has kept out of any interface with the Court.
The group added that it anticipates President Jagdeo “would, on reflection and consultation, seek to correct the perceptions and damage to character and reputation” caused by his recent comments. Meanwhile, GINA stressed in its statement that the real issue remains TCL’s inability to provide the region with reliable and competitively priced supplies of cement.
