1 Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption in Jamaica 2 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . 5 President Jimmy Carter Introduction. 7 Laura Neuman Acknowledgments. 11 Transforming Jamaican Democracy Through Transparency: A Framework for Action . 13 Trevor Munroe Corruption: Challenges to Human Rights, Citizens’ Security and Good Governance . 24 The Honorable Lloyd Barnett A Strategy to Prevent Corruption and the Role of Commissions and Citizens . 33 Bertrand de Speville Ethics in Government and the Issue of Conflicts of Interest. 47 Mark Davies The Right to Information and Jamaica’s Access to Information Act . 61 Alasdair Roberts Access to Information: How Is It Useful and How Is It Used? . 73 Richard Calland The Access to Information Act, 2001 . 89 Minister Colin Campbell Further Resources for Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption: Government Agencies, Professional Organizations and Civil Society Organizations . 91 About the Contributors. 94 3 Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption in Jamaica 4 Foreword Foreword By Jimmy Carter imes have changed. Public awareness about corruption and its corrosive effects has increased substantially Tsince I signed into law the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977. Now many other countries are passing legislation to combat corruption and comply with international agreements such as the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. Jamaica is leading the way with legislation that requires declaration of assets by Members of Parliament and civil servants, with the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, and with proposed legislation to provide citizens with access to information. When The Carter Center initiated a project to foster transparency in the Americas, Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, a member of our Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, was the first leader to step forward by inviting us to work with Jamaicans. We were also privileged to have the support of another Council member, the Hon. Edward Seaga, leader of the loyal opposition. Two years ago, The Carter Center published Combating Corruption in Jamaica, A Citizen’s Guide, in which leading Jamaican scholars and legal analysts described and critiqued emerging legislation. The Guide was an instant success, and we ran short of copies within weeks as legislation went to Parliamentary debate and citizens successfully rallied to persuade their representatives to improve the language of the text before passage. It was a stirring demonstration of how the democratic process should work and why Jamaica remains a vibrant polity. This year The Carter Center has collaborated with experts from Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States as well as our Jamaican colleagues to bring forth an updated Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption in Jamaica Guide with all new material that can help inform Jamaican citizens about measures to increase transparency and ongoing efforts to reduce corruption in other countries. As in the past, The Carter Center will hold seminars and invite consultants to elaborate on the ideas presented in the Guide, such as the dilemma of the balance between privacy and access to information and the effective role of anti-corruption commissions. Our hope is to stimulate public debate and enable Jamaicans to make informed decisions about how best to proceed in their ongoing efforts to increase transparency. With civil society, the private sector, and government cooperating toward a common goal, I am confident that Jamaica can serve as a model for others. 5 Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption in Jamaica 6 Introduction INTRODUCTION Laura Neuman nowledge is power, and transparency is the remedy The antidote: appropriate legislation, effective Kto the darkness under which corruption thrives. enforcement, public awareness and oversight, and broad Jamaica’s efforts to approve two new laws to increase access to information. public access to information and prevent corruption are, Recognizing the challenges of corruption, The thus, intertwined. Democracy depends on a knowledge- Carter Center’s Council of Presidents and Prime able citizenry whose access to a broad range of informa- Ministers asked that The Carter Center’s Americas tion enables them to participate fully in public life, help Program convene political leaders, civil society determine priorities for public spending, receive equal organizations, scholars, media and private business access to justice, and hold their public officials account- representatives to discuss each sectors’ role in addressing able. When the government and quasi-governmental this multi-faceted problem. The Transparency for agencies perform under a veil of secrecy, people are Growth in the Americas conference, held at The Carter denied the right to know about public affairs, and the Center in May 1999, provoked thoughtful discussion press is only able to speculate and feed on rumors. regarding an issue that, heretofore, was often considered Poor public access to information also feeds taboo. Recommendations for increasing transparency corruption. Secrecy allows back-room deals to and preventing corruption were varied, including dis- determine public spending in the interests of the few semination of the basic message that corruption is not rather than the many. Lack of information prevents only an ethical, but also a policy problem; that hard citizens from being able to assess the decisions of their data to substantiate the extent of corruption, versus leaders, and even to make informed choices about the the perception, is needed; and that solutions must be individuals they elect to serve as their representatives. grounded in firm, achievable commitments from leaders and citizens. Citizens and their leaders around the world have long recognized the risk of corruption. Corruption In addition to the conference, The Carter diverts scarce resources from necessary public services, Center’s Americas Program began three transparency and instead puts it in the pockets of politicians, projects in our hemisphere. Jamaican Prime Minister middlemen and shady contractors, while ensuring that P. J. Patterson invited us to include Jamaica as one of the poor do not receive the benefits of this “system.” our initiatives. At that time, his administration had The consequences of corruption globally have been drafted the Corruption Prevention Act in order to clear: violence, overthrow of governments, reduced bring Jamaica into compliance with the Organization investor confidence and continued poverty. A high of American States’ Convention Against Corruption, level of corruption is a singularly pernicious societal of which Jamaica was a signatory, and a White Paper problem that also undermines the rule of law and citizen on Freedom of Information. The Carter Center agreed confidence in democratic institutions. to help inform the debate regarding these important transparency tools. Laura Neuman, J.D., is the Senior Program Associate of The Americas Program, The Carter Center. 7 Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption in Jamaica As a first step, The Carter Center commissioned the present context of Jamaica’s democratic institutions papers from distinguished Jamaican scholars Dr. Lloyd and the historical roots, must be considered. Dr. Munroe Barnett and Dr. Trevor Munroe on the existing anti-cor- theorizes that with the decline of traditional means of ruption laws and on the proposed Corruption Prevention representation and the rise of new forms of citizen Act and Freedom of Information Act. In October 1999, participation, such as the media and civil society these articles were compiled and edited into Combating organizations, transparency initiatives will only succeed Corruption in Jamaica: A Citizen’s Guide and distributed with the transformation and strengthening of formal with the assistance of Sangster’s Bookstores. In partner- institutions of authority and representation. ship with the Media Association of Jamaica, the Center The consequences of corruption are often held public seminars on the issue and conducted characterized by increased violence and human rights working groups. Jamaicans took the lead in examining challenges. Dr. Lloyd Barnett, in his chapter Corruption: the issue and a Parliamentary Challenges to Human Rights, debate on the tabled Corruption Citizens’ Security and Good Prevention Act ensued, lasting We hope that this guidebook Governance, discusses the nexus over eight months and resulting will serve as a tool for understanding among these societal problems. in more than 30 amendments. the value of transparency in Dr. Barnett provides sixteen Since the publication of our both the Jamaican and recommendations for stemming first Guide, the Corruption international contexts. corruption and safeguarding Prevention Act 2000 has been democracy and human security, signed into law, a Commission advising, “progress in Jamaica has been named, amendments have been made to the is dependent on the creation of an atmosphere of Integrity Act, and the Access to Information Act has transparency, justice and security, as well as urgency.” been tabled in Parliament. In light of these important Mr. Bertrand de Speville, in A Strategy to Prevent developments, The Carter Center has commissioned Corruption and the Role of Commissions and Citizens, new papers to comprise this second edition of our guide, establishes a three-pronged approach for