3 ½ years later… House approves ‘almost identical Bill’

Dec 04, 2009 News

By Gary Eleazar
More than three years after the National Assembly passed the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill and it was sent to President Bharrat Jagdeo for him to assent but the required time elapsed, the legislation made its way through the House successfully again yesterday.
The Bill which is described as almost identical to its predecessor, save for the amendments, was piloted by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, but not before an opposition bashing.
Member of Parliament and Executive Member of the People’s National Congress Reform Basil Williams told media operatives that it was the fact that President Jagdeo had again acted unconstitutionally in respect of a Bill sent to him by the House for his assent.
“ This unconstitutional act by President Jagdeo, which resulted in the elapsing of the Mutual Assistance In Criminal Matters, Bill No. 4 of 2006, is the reason why the National Assembly will today, once again, be required to debate an almost identical Bill over three and a half years since it was originally passed by the National Assembly.”
The Bill provides for mutual assistance in criminal matters between Guyana and Commonwealth countries, as well as other countries with which Guyana has a Treaty concerning such assistance.
The original Bill had its First Reading in the National Assembly on January 19, 2006 and passed in March of that year, with one minor amendment. Shadow Home Affairs Minister Deborah Backer in the House yesterday said that while she and her party were supportive of the legislation it must not become a white elephant without implementation.
She posited that had the legislation been in place then Guyana could have long ago requested information on Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan and Peter Morgan among others.
According to Backer, yesterday’s sitting of the National Assembly was akin to déjà vu given that it had already been debated and unanimously passed.
She reminded the House that the President who is constitutionally bound to return the Bill to the house with a reason for his withholding of assent.
Government Member of Parliament Gail Teixeira in her presentation to the house on the Bill said that it is better late than never and that the delay has allowed for the crafters of the legislation to include some important amendments.
Teixeira opined that the Bill that was before the House yesterday was better than its predecessor and there was no use, “looking at spilt milk.”
Rohee in his closing arguments told the House that he did not see it as necessary to engage in a song and dance about the fact that the initial bill was not assented to by the President adding that the one before the House was a valid one.
He emphasised the point that the Bill should be recognized as not having an extradition element, in that persons that would have to travel to give evidence would have to agree to do so.
The Home Affairs Minister explained that the Bill would serve the country’s national and collective interests.
Rohee did point out that the information as it relates to the requests for assistance will be treated with the strictest secrecy and confidentiality
Foreign Affairs Minister told the House that given the nature of globalization and the transnational nature of crime, such a Bill would allow Guyana to request assistance to persons with information critical to an investigation or to give evidence that is vital.
She added also that the Bill allows for Guyana’s compliance with international legal obligations.

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3 ½ years later… House approves ‘almost identical Bill’

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