14 June 2007

Why cabinet avoided a public inquiry

When judges have real powers they can upset carefully concocted sets of excuses.

Like say Chief Justice Derek Green's conclusions on the secret bonus money handed out to members of the House of Assembly, after the Accountability and transparency police came to office.

Bear in mind Green's terms of reference did not give his commission the powers of a public inquiry.

Yet he was still able to make this observation, as quoted in the Telegram:
MHAs contended the two events were unrelated.

The chief justice disagreed.

"If I were sitting in a court of law assessing, as sworn evidence, the information I have been presented with, I would not have too much difficulty in drawing the inference that the issue must have been present in the minds of at least some of the participants in the decision," he wrote.
That's judge-speak for "pull the other one, it's got bells on it."

Imagine what Green would have done if he'd put everyone he spoke to under oath.

Some politicians and their scripted supporters said the inquiry would take too long.

Like maybe a year?

Green took almost a year.

Pull the other one, indeed.

-srbp-