BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FORMER Premier of Nevis and Leader of the Concerned Citizen’s Movement (CCM) Hon. Vance Amory has declared the island’s current Commission of Inquiry illegal and would be seeking the court’s intervention.
“I am of the view that this Commission is illegal and contrary to the Commissions Act, as amended, and as a consequence has no jurisdiction to examine me or any other person on any matter in all of the circumstances. Therefore, I am left with no choice but to seek the intervention of the court, both to the obvious illegality of the appointment of the Commission and the irresistible inference of bias which attends this proceedings,” Amory said in a statement aired yesterday (July 20) on VON Radio after he staged a walkout from the first session of oral hearings at the Commission of Inquiry.
Amory listed 10 reasons for his party’s walking out from the hearings, noting in his first explanation that “the appearance of bias on the part of the Commissioner and other members of the Commission, namely, Mr. Jeffrey Nisbett, counsel to the Commission; Mr. Morrice Tyrell, Secretary to the Commission; and Ms. Myrna Liburd, Assistant Secretary to the Commission”.
The former Premier said that in the case of Nisbett, “He is the uncle and former employer of Mr. Patrice Nisbett, who is the current Legal Advisor to the NRP-led Nevis Administration…an active politician and candidate for the NRRP. Indeed, Mr. Jeffrey Nisbett had spoken on an NRP political platform against the Concerned Citizen’s Movement Party of which I am the Leader.”
In his objection to Tyrell’s presence on the Commission, he said, “In the case of Mr. Morrice Tyrell, he is a well-known political activist for the Nevis Reformation Party and an especially vitriolic opponent of both myself and the CCM.”
According to Amory, Tyrell, on several occasions in the past, had made personal attacks against him and that Liburd is an executive member of the NRP and “a fierce opponent of the CCM”.
Amory declared that he had written to the Commissioner of the Inquiry, Thomas Sharpe Q.C, [a British lawyer] requesting that he recuse himself from the hearings. He also cited the Commissioner’s personal relationship with notable a critic of the CCM [James Gaskell] as additional grounds for bias, and noted that he is a former employee of Nevis’ Premier Joseph Parry.
“In a response to my letter, dated July 7, 2009, the Commissioner has given me no comfort of confidence that he can be impartial. Indeed, he confirmed that he ‘count Mr. Gaskell and his wife Celia and their children as family friends’. He also confirmed that the Premier was aware of his friendship with Mr. Gaskell. In addition, the Commissioner has also admitted that he works free for the Nevis Island Administration on the geothermal matter, giving them advice at no cost…same Administration being the driving force behind this inquiry. I am deeply concerned with the appearance of bias in this matter,” Amory said.
Amory further charged that the Instrument appointing the Commissioner did not comply with the requirement of the amended Constitution of Inquiry Act of 1996.
He argued that the Act “requires that the Instrument be signed by the Minister responsible for Inquiries. As presently advised, the Minister so responsible is the Hon. Prime Minister. Instrument purportedly accounting the Commissioner has been signed not by the Minister responsible for Inquiries as mandated by law, but instead by Premier Joseph Parry, who has no legal standing in this matter.
Premier Parry has signed the Instrument as Minister responsible for Commissions, whereas, the law requires execution by the Minister responsible for Inquiries”.
The Leader of the Opposition further stated that the form of Instrument requires that the duration of the Commission is stated. “The Instrument purportedly appointing the Commission does not so state,” he added.
The Commission of Inquiry was appointed by the NRP-led Nevis Island Administration to investigate transactions conducted under the former CCM Administration between 1996 and 2006. These transactions include acquisition of the Marion Heights Shopping Mall, work done at the Vance Amory International Airport and land transactions at Hamilton and Pinneys.
The Commission of Inquiry was launched on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 and the hearings are being conducted at the island’s Cultural Centre.
