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The Ombudsman Commission has reached a decision to file a Supreme Court Reference to test the Constitutional validity of the recently passed Public Money Management Regularisation Act 2017 (PMMR Act).
The Commission has carefully studied the PMMR Act 2017 and is of the view that a number of the Acts provisions raise serious constitutional issues. The constitutional issues relate to:
- Right to ownership of property;
- Constitutional status of constitutional institutions;
- Removal of jurisdiction of the courts;
- Parliamentary control of public finance;
- Harsh and oppressive penalties;
- Protection of the law;
- Constitution as Supreme law; and
- Freedom of expression
The decision to file a Constitutional Reference also follows a public statement the Commission made on the 13th of April 2018 after it met with the Department of Finance and deliberated on the finer aspects of the PMMR Act, to determine whether there are irregularities or sufficient doubt as to the constitutionality of the passing of the Act.
The OC is an independent constitutional institution conferred with a number of functions, one of which is the power to file Constitutional references to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on the constitutionality of laws or proposed laws under the said Section 19 of the Constitution.
The Commission invites interested interveners to contact the Ombudsman Commission to obtain a copy of the Reference, once it has been filed.
The Commission is not at liberty to discuss further the merits of the case as the matter is going to go before the Courts.
Press Release from the Ombudsman Commission
