Premier Andrew Fahie has said that there is a disparity in the decision to have Speaker of the House of Assembly Julian Willock subjected to pay his legal bill as a private citizen, when the governor who will be represented by a legal team in an upcoming Commission of Inquiry hearing will have his bill footed by taxpayers.
Premier Fahie made that statement during Monday’s proceedings of the House of Assembly as he briefly touched on the motion which aims to exempt Speaker Willock from having to pay in excess of $120,000 in legal fees following his discontinued injunction against the three COI attorneys.
The premier in essence was justifying why the government is moving forward with the motion.
He said, “This motion that would’ve been number 9 is not about an individual but about an official office. It is important for everyone to know that the BVI taxpayers are paying for the legal representation of the COI lawyers due to claims of possible violation of the Legal Professions Act 2015.”
“Also, it is important for everyone to know that the Governor has exercised his democratic right to have legal representation during the time when he will be cross examined in the COI which is the same COI that the Governor’s Office called. And it is also projected that the BVI taxpayers may be paying this expense as well,” he added.
More documents to come on this matter
Premier Fahie also hinted that more documents will be forthcoming to shed further light on the matter, which has so far sparked public outrage from many members of the BVI public.
“I have been informed that Section 103 of the Constitution will likely be used for those two expenses that I’ve named. The only one that is being ordered to pay legal fees in its private capacity while taking action in his official capacity would’ve been the Speaker. So I just needed to state that this information is information that has recently come to the attention of the Minister of Finance and there are some documents that I would like to request before I speak any further on them,” Premier Fahie stated.
The premier’s decision to introduce this motion which will be using the funds from the Consolidated Fund to pay the Speaker’s legal bill ultimately means that taxpayers will be paying this cost.
Following the breaking of this news from our media station, several persons took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the decision of the government to take such a stance.
It resulted in the creation of a petition by Lawrence ‘Bunchie’ Wheatley which has so far amassed 1286 signatures, passing the intended 1200 goal-mark, and a protest which saw several persons outside the House of Assembly on Monday.
Court ruling
Speaker Willock was originally ordered by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme High Court to pay the legal fees of the defendants in his discontinued injunction case which was filed against the Commissioner of Inquiry and his three attorneys.
This judgement was handed down by Justice Adrian Jack on Thursday September 30, where it was revealed that Speaker Willock could pay more than $120,000 once an assessment of the total fees has been completed.
The legal fees submitted by the Attorney General totaled $6,084 while the bill for Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom along with his attorneys Bilal Rawat, Rhea Harrikissoon and Andrew King totaled $115,348.50.