The remaining member and substitute member of the Ethnic Relations Commission are expected to be sworn in this week, clearing the way for the commission to hold its first meeting to elect its chairman.
According to Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs the first meeting would be held to elect a chairman and a deputy chairman and then to work out the staffing of the commission’s secretariat and work programme.
The members due to be sworn in are Leila Austin, the substitute member named by the women’s groups and Shahabudeen McDoom, the member named by the Moslem community.
The communiqué signed on May 6, cleared the way for the members of the commission to be sworn in and for the participation of the Leader of the Opposition at the ceremony on May 6, when most of the members and substitute members were sworn in.
The Ethnic Relations Commission was created by one of the amendments to the constitution and should have been in place before the March 19, 2001 elections but a number of administrative hitches delayed it.
With the commission in place, the way would also be cleared for the appointment of the three-member tribunal, which would hear appeals from the decisions of the Commission.
The constitution of the tribunal however would have to await the constitution of the Judicial and Public Service Commissions. Section 2(1)(a) of the Ethnic Re-lations Commission Tribunal Act 2000 provides for the President, “who shall act in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Com-mission” to appoint the chairman of the tribunal.
The person to be appointed must have been a Judge of the Court of Appeal or a Judge of the High Court or eligible to be appointed as a judge of the High Court.
Section 2(2) provides for the President to appoint the two other members in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission from among persons qualified as having had experience of, and shown capacity in, matters relating to race relations and ethnicity.