Resistance to accessing info from banks! Judiciary needs urgent training to understand seriousness of SOCU’s work –SARA Director

Jul 22, 2018 News

SARA’s Deputy Director, Aubrey Heath-Retemyer

By Kiana Wilburg
One of the biggest challenges facing institutions like the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) is access to information from the commercial banks. When SOCU officials turn to the Magistrates’ Court to compel banks to provide information, they are often times, left wallowing in disappointment.
SOCU has been told; for example, that Magistrates do not have the power to issue orders that would force banks to open their books and/or make copies of certain documents.
Even if SOCU is successful in obtaining such orders from the court, the banking institutions are slow to comply, if they do at all.
So what does this mean for the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA), an anticorruption body that will have to turn to the judiciary as well as to the same banks for information to prove its many cases?
Weighing in on this poignant question recently was SARA’s Deputy Director, Aubrey Heath-Retemyer. The official said that SARA is paying attention to the manner in which SOCU is being treated. Based on his observations, he believes that there is a stark disconnection between the judiciary and the thirst of the nation for an end to corruption.
He said, “We can’t say if the requests SOCU made for orders from the Court were prepared properly but we think that we have technically competent people to prepare these things in a manner where we would be able to dot all i’s and cross all t’s.
“At the same time, we believe that the courts of this country seem not to favour (such requests by entities).”
“There are times when the society of a country demands so much of the legal system that there is a wave of change and the legal people are far more inclined to see justice prevail than they are to apply the law to stop legitimate progress in the direction of fighting corruption.
In other words, there are some countries like Brazil and Argentina where the court is highly trained and far more in tune with what the national psyche is, what the people really yearn for.”
Heath-Retemyer reiterated his position that there is a disconnection in Guyana between the judiciary and what the people want.
He said, “I feel that sometimes, the legal system here, it doesn’t seem to want to be in step with the honest desire of the law enforcement people (like SOCU) to ensure they get the job done. I feel that if there was a greater sense of urgency and understanding on the part of the legal people and the system, they may be more willing to facilitate what SOCU or SARA would be doing.”
For the time being, the Deputy Director said he is not worried about the push back from the banking sector and the posture of the judiciary on such matters. He noted, however, that SARA will be cautious in its approach.
Heath-Retemyer stressed that the legal arm of the country needs to be trained so that they are more in favour of seeing justice being rolled out rather than being pushed back.
The Deputy Director added, “You know, I feel the push back is simply because they don’t seem to regard the urgency with which SOCU has to work and the climate in which we have to work. But training is necessary.”