Last Thursday, the Integrity Commission wrote to President Anthony Carmona to seek the appointment of a tribunal of the commission to inquire further into the declarations made by Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner.
This was the first time that the Integrity Commission was using this power. To some extent, the commission may have learnt a lesson from the failed prosecution of former prime minister Basdeo Panday in which Senior Magistrate Marcia Murrray dismissed the case against Panday on the ground that the Integrity Commission had failed to fully investigate the matter against him before prosecution.
On June 27, 2012, the Guardian reported on the case and reproduced excerpts of Magistrate Murray's judgment which are relevant to the latest action by the Commission against Warner. According to the Guardian report on the Panday case, Murray said:
"The Integrity Commission failed to comply with the provisions of the act under which it is constituted when it did not advise the President to appoint a tribunal to enquire into Mr Panday's declarations. Mr Panday was not given an opportunity, to which he was entitled, to be heard by a properly constituted tribunal.
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