Protected Disclosures Bill 2017 passed

…as PPP accuses Govt of legislative plagiarism

The Protected Disclosures Bill 2017 was on Thursday passed in the National Assembly after a heated debate, with the Parliamentary Opposition charging the Government with copying from corresponding laws in other countries and pasting together what it had copied to form most of the draft law.
This charge, which emanated from Opposition Parliamentarian Attorney-at-Law Adrian Anamayah, saw Anamayah acknowledge that there are treaty obligations regarding anti-corruption which Guyana must adhere to, and that whistle blowers must be protected. However, he questioned whether the legislation was indeed following international best practices.
Noting that in developed countries, the standard is to focus the legislation on policing employers, he pointed out that Guyana has not learned from the loopholes of legislation in other jurisdictions. For instance, he pointed out, the legislation does not specifically prevent employers from blacklisting employees.
He also said that, with some exceptions, the draft legislation was copied almost word for word from corresponding legislation in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago. The problem with this copying, Anamaya noted, is that the actual realities faced in Guyana were not properly taken account of.
“I seem to get the impression that the commission is expected to get 10 (to) 20 complaints a day. I don’t see that happening. So we need to know if it will be a full-time or part-time commission. A full-time commission will cost money,” he declared.
The lawyer pointed out that since the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) exist, a Disclosures Commission is unnecessary and nothing more than another opportunity for “jobs for the boys.”

Integrity commission
Anamayah also noted that while the bill entails nominees from the Integrity Commission, the commission is defunct when its sole purpose is to combat corruption. He noted that it is therefore hypocritical of the Government to set up the commission.
Meanwhile, Opposition Parliamentarian Gillian Burton expressed concern that the Protected Disclosures Bill has not provided for more representation from all the workers’ unions in Guyana. She noted that there is a potential for conflict when clause four of the bill is considered.
According to clause 4 (a) besides the Chairperson “the four other members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Minister after being elected by the National Assembly from a nominee of the: Integrity Commission, Private Sector Commission, Guyana Bar Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana, Guyana Human Rights Association, Guyana Trades Union Congress; and Guyana Police Association, being a retired police officer who was not below the rank of Inspector.”
Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan defended the merits of the bill. Regarding allegations of ‘legislative plagiarism’, Ramjattan noted that it was not unusual for Commonwealth countries to use legislation of similar nature, as it would have been determined that they would have enacted laws of an international standard.
He also responded to Opposition queries as to the usefulness of having a separate commission. According to Ramjattan, it was necessary to have separate staff of a certain standard to validate the veracity of claims.
In the end, the bill was passed in the house. This means that operationalising aspects of the bill, such as the Protected Disclosures Commission, are at the discretion of cabinet.

The bill
The Protected Disclosures Bill 2017 is an act which sets out to combat corruption and other wrongdoings by encouraging and facilitating disclosures of improper conduct in the public and private sectors; to protect those persons making those disclosures from detrimental action; to establish the Protected Disclosures Commission to receive, investigate, or otherwise deal with disclosures of improper conduct; and to provide for other related matters.
According to Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, the bill allows an employee who reasonably believes that his employer or another employee of that employer has committed, is committing, or is likely to commit, an improper conduct to make a disclosure of the improper conduct to the Commission.
Among other clauses, the act applies to any disclosure made “after the coming into operation of this act where the improper conduct to which the disclosure relates occurred twelve years immediately before the coming into operation of this Act, or occurs after the coming into operation of this act.”
The Commission established under this Act will consist of a chairman, to be appointed by the Minister, and four other members who hold or have held the office of a Judge of the Court of Appeal or High Court, or are qualified for same.
This Bill was initially laid in the National Assembly on November 17, 2017.