SHAR­LENE RAM­PER­SAD

Op­po­si­tion leader, Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar says the Whistle­blow­er Bill is un­con­sti­tu­tion­al and vi­o­lates the rule of law.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar was speak­ing in Par­lia­ment yes­ter­day dur­ing the de­bate on the Bill.

In her con­tri­bu­tion, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said in T&T, courts of law can strike down any Par­lia­ment that has been un­con­sti­tu­tion­al.

She said the Whistle­blow­er Bill was placed be­fore a Joint Se­lect Com­mit­tee but a re­port was nev­er com­plet­ed by that com­mit­tee.

“So let us not fool our­selves that we are look­ing at some­thing that has been gone through, over and over by a Joint Se­lect Com­mit­tee,” Per­sad-Bisses­sar said.

She said the Bill was bad law and would be struck down if chal­lenged.

“I want to say at the out­set, this par­tic­u­lar bill is a night­mare, a le­gal night­mare and it is a night­mare for every right-think­ing per­son in Trinidad and To­ba­go.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar said Claus­es 18 and 19 of the Bill re­moves the right of cit­i­zens to chal­lenge ac­cu­sa­tions made by a whistle­blow­er in a civ­il suit.

“That is a fun­da­men­tal prin­ci­ple of the rule of law that a cit­i­zen should have the right to have ac­cess to a court where it is some­one has lied to de­fame, to be a whistle­blow­er, to col­lect mon­ey to be a whistle­blow­er, to make up some­thing - they must have a right,” the Op­po­si­tion leader said.

She said even if the Gov­ern­ment gets the three-fifths ma­jor­i­ty need­ed in Par­lia­ment to pass the Whistle­blow­er bill, it would be struck down in court for vi­o­lat­ing Sec­tions 4 and 5 of the Con­sti­tu­tion.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar al­so ques­tioned the pro­tec­tion be­ing of­fered in the leg­is­la­tion for whistle­blow­ers.

She said me­dia re­ports in 2018 high­light­ed the short­com­ings of the Wit­ness Pro­tec­tion Pro­gramme as she called on the Gov­ern­ment to say what phys­i­cal pro­tec­tion whistle­blow­ers would be of­fered.

“You say you give pro­tec­tion to the whistle­blow­er, what pro­tec­tion are you giv­ing them? All you are say­ing is that you will be im­mune from civ­il suits or crim­i­nal pro­ceed­ings but what about your life? Who pro­tects you or your life? Which per­son is there to be able to pro­tect you and your fam­i­ly?”