IC faces fresh lawsuit

The Integrity Commission (IC) is facing another lawsuit, this time from Dr Carl Bruce, medical chief of staff at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), arising from a request for him to submit statutory declarations for more than six calendar years, court documents have revealed.
The IC is Jamaica’s principal anti-corruption body to which public officials are required to make annual declarations of their income, assets and liabilities.
Bruce was required, by a notice dated April 8 this year from Joeth Jones, director of information and complaints at the IC, to submit statutory declarations for the period August 1, 2018 to December 31 last year, according to redacted documents disclosed by the Court Administration Division (CAD) on Tuesday, in response to a request by The Gleaner.
However, in an “urgent application for court orders”, the medical doctor challenged the notice, asking the Supreme Court to declare that the designation “public official” as defined by Section 2 of the Integrity Commission Act does not apply to him for the period indicated by the IC.
In addition, Bruce, who is represented by the law firm Georgia Hamilton & Company, asked the court for a declaration that the notice from the IC is “null and void and of no effect” and an injunction barring Jones and the anti-corruption body from enforcing or taking any steps to enforce the notice.
“There is a serious issue to be tried as to whether the claimant [Bruce] is a ‘public official’ within the meaning of the Integrity Commission Act and ought properly to have been issued a notice by the defendants,” he asserted in the court filings.
The IC is barred by law from commenting publicly on active cases.
Attorneys for both sides presented their legal arguments in two hearings on May 20 and July 7.
The presiding judge is expected to give her ruling on September 8.
An interim injunction barring the IC from enforcing the notice was also imposed by the judge and will remain in effect until the next court date, CAD confirmed.
Chairman of the IC, retired Supreme Court Judge Carol Lawrence Beswick, noted that in the last financial year there was an increase in legal actions filed against the commission “and particular members of its leadership team”.
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness and de facto Science, Technology and Special Projects Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley are among the senior public officials who have taken the commission to court over the findings of separate investigations into their statutory declarations.
The commission, through its director of corruption prosecution, has indicated that Wheatley is to be charged with illicit enrichment and other crimes for alleged breaches of Jamaica’s corruption prevention law.
Lawrence Beswick and Craig Beresford, executive director of the anti-corruption body, both emphasised that the IC “respects” the constitutional right of every individual to access the courts, but raised concerns about the implications of “this emerging trend” of legal challenges.
Without mentioning names, Lawrence Beswick indicated in the commission’s annual report for the 2025-2026 financial year that there is a legitimate concern that the increasing resort to litigation against the IC and its officers in the execution of their lawful duties may, intentionally or otherwise, “impede” the timely discharge of its responsibilities.
“The courts play a vital role in safeguarding the rule of law and ensuring that public bodies operate within their legal authority,” she noted.
“However, it is equally important that the lawful execution of the commission’s mandate is not frustrated, delayed or undermined by actions designed solely to discourage robust investigations or to inhibit the commission from carrying out the mandate entrusted to it,” the IC chairman added.
livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com