00:00In a letter dated July 16th, Quantum Legal Attorneys Christon Williams and Blaine Sobrian also requested the establishment of an
00:07independence review mechanism to examine whether the mandatory reporting obligations under the Strategic Services Agency Act and the Interception of
00:17Communications Act had been complied with.
00:19The correspondence was addressed to PSE Chairman Dr. Wendell Wallace and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Roger Gaspard.
00:26The attorneys stated that their clients had been directly affected by executive action in which intelligence, national security considerations, or
00:36information said to have been derived from agencies exercising covert statutory powers had been relied upon by public authorities.
00:44They said intelligence had been publicly relied upon in support of the transfer of Ali and Richards from MSP to
00:51Tetron Barracks during the state of emergency and the subsequent issuance of preventative detention orders.
00:57In the case of Hughes, they said issues concerning national security, organized criminal activity, and alleged communications with certain individuals
01:06were publicly relied upon in criminal proceedings instituted against them.
01:10The attorneys maintained that they were not challenging the use of intelligence gathering or intelligence-led policing, nor were they
01:18alleging that any interception of communications involving their clients was unlawful.
01:23Instead, they said their concerns centered on whether the institutions entrusted with those powers had complied with the statutory safeguards
01:32enacted by Parliament and whether the accountability mechanisms established to regulate them had been allowed to lapse without explanation.
01:40According to the letter, annual reports required under Section 13 of the SSA Act and Section 24 of the Interception
01:48of Communications Act appeared not to have been laid before Parliament for several years.
01:53The attorneys stated that correspondents seeking clarification on compliance with those reporting obligations had been sent to several public officials
02:02since 2024, including former Ministers of National Security, the current Homeland Security Minister, the Minister of Defence, the Clerk of
02:12the House, and the Speaker of the House.
02:14They said responses received confirmed that annual reports had been prepared and delivered to the Minister responsible for national security
02:22in at least one instance, but had not been laid before Parliament.
02:27The letter argued that the reporting requirements were mandatory statutory safeguards intended to ensure ministerial accountability and parliamentary oversight of
02:38intelligence-gathering and covert surveillance powers.
02:41The attorneys further raised concerns regarding the public expenditure connected to the SSA, stating that publicly identified funding linked to
02:50the agency between 1995 and 2026 amounted to at least $3 billion.
02:56They acknowledged that the figure combined actual expenditure, reported expenditure, and budget estimates.
03:03They also noted that public records did not provide a consolidated, audited, and publicly accessible lifetime account of SSA expenditure
03:14and questioned whether Parliament had been provided with sufficient information to scrutinize the agency's activities and spending.
03:23The letter referred to statements made by former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley in 2024 regarding an audit of the
03:31SSA, which included references to issues involving the agency's structure, staffing, weapons, ammunition, and internal governance.
03:41The attorney said those matters highlighted the importance of statutory reporting and parliamentary oversight mechanisms.
03:48They further argued that the Office of the Commission of Police formed part of the statutory framework governing the interception
03:55of communications and intelligence-gathering,
03:58and that common law principles relating to apparent bias and institutional independence should apply where questions arise concerning compliance with
04:08that framework.
04:10The attorneys made no allegations of misconduct or bad faith against the Commission of Police.
04:16However, they submitted that the Commissioner should not participate in any investigation, review, assessment, or decision-making process concerning the
04:27apparent statutory non-compliance identified in the correspondence.
04:32The attorneys requested an acknowledgement of receipt of the correspondence within 72 hours and a substantive response by July 27.
04:42Copies of the letter were also sent to Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessor and Police Complaints Authority Director David West.
04:51Alexander Brucewell, TV6 News.
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