Munroe: Lawyers should not be paid with dirty money
BY ERICA VIRTUE Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 19, 2010
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PROFESSOR Trevor Munroe wants the Government to begin examining ways to make it difficult for lawyers representing persons charged with certain criminal offences to receive payments from the funds of their clients' ill-gotten enterprises.
"I would like to see in Jamaica a version of the law in the United States that lawyers, who are defending persons alleged to be engaged in money laundering, gun running and drug trafficking demonstrate that the earnings from that defence are not part of ill-gotten gains. I believe that is certainly a topic worthy of discussion...," said Munroe, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies and former senator.
He was responding to questions following his keynote address Tuesday night at the Public Relations Society of Jamaica (PSRJ) monthly meeting in Kingston.
His views, however, came in light of the recent court appearance in New York of alleged Jamaican drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, where lawyers made it clear that they would have to be assured that money paid to the defence in the drug and gun trafficking case was not tainted.
Coke's assets in Jamaica have been frozen under the Proceed of Crime Act of 2007, which provides for forfeiture through the courts of all properties and accumulated wealth, which cannot be explained by legitimate activity.
Under US laws, lawyers must demonstrate that they are not being paid with monies from a person's alleged criminal operation. However, there is no similar law here. According to Munroe, it was crucial for Jamaica to have greater anti-corruption mobilising efforts as surveys have showed that Jamaicans perceived that the country was tipping dangerously on the brink of being overwhelmed by real, as well as perceived corruption.
According to Munroe, professionals, particularly agents of law enforcement, were very crucial at given stages in the country's development to deal with the levels of corruption which Jamaica was experiencing.
He wants Jamaica to create its own version of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisationa (RICO) Act in the United States, which he said would go a far way in punishing wrongdoers, especially those charged with corruption-related offences.
"We need the Jamaican equivalent of the RICO statute in the United States, where the persons who don't pull the trigger, or the persons who are not on the front line of the corrupt and who hide in the back, can be brought within the purview of law enforcement. And that is a big deficiency in our system as well...," Munroe told public relations executives.
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