The GSD have issued a statement criticising the Government’s draft Conflict of Interests Bill.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

The draft conflicts of interests law1is heavy on bureaucracy but low on making sure conflicts are actually restricted. It  is weighed down by layers of administration which will hamper rather than ensure that conflicts are prevented and  penalised. As such the draft law will fall well short of what is necessary to avoid a repetition of the excesses that we  have seen under this GSLP Government. A future GSD Government would ensure that there are robust controls on  conflicts of interest based on the Canadian model law and tougher rules that prevent abuse. 

The draft conflict of interests law is the direct result of a McGrail Inquiry recommendation. Sir Peter Openshaw found  that on several occasions Mr Picardo behaved in a grossly improper way and attempted to interfere in a live criminal  investigation. That police investigation was into circumstances that had arisen after a company (36 North) in which  Hassans (and through them the Chief Minister) had ultimate beneficial interests had vied for a lucrative public  service/national security contract. 

The Inquiry Chairman recommended that conflicts of interests legislation be introduced to guard against issues he had  found and that the Canadian conflicts of interests law be used as a model.  

Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi said:  

“The law as drafted is insufficient and in many ways will simply be a toothless and overly bureaucratic machinery  creaking under the administration it envisages but without achieving the objective of properly curbing conflicts. It is  weak and deficient in a number of key respects that seem engineered by the Government to castrate and hamper its  effectiveness. That speaks to the obvious GSLP Government’s decision to pay lip service to but undermine the  substance of the Openshaw Report. It is far removed from the precision of the Canadian Conflicts law that would  explicitly and much more clearly prevent people from abusing conflicts situations. I make clear that a future GSD  Government will use the Canadian law as a template for further reform in Gibraltar. That is precisely what Sir Peter  Openshaw recommended. What the GSLP Government are doing in spirit and substance is to make a mockery of the  Openshaw Report. 

The GSLP/Libs are arguing that the Canadian model recommended by Sir Peter Openshaw should not be followed for  Gibraltar because the Government feel it is inappropriate. But is it a case of inappropriate or inconvenient because  the Canadian model would not allow some of the conflicts that their GSLP draft law would allow? We will be setting  out our views on this draft Bill in detail when we debate this in Parliament.”