British Virgin Islands 2021 Commission of Inquiry
[1] The terms of reference were to make "a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into whether there was information that corruption, abuse of office or other serious dishonesty in relation to officials, whether statutory, elected or public, may have taken place in recent years; if there were such information, to consider the conditions which allowed such conduct to take place and whether they may still exist; and, if appropriate, to make independent recommendations with a view to improving the standards of governance and the operation of the agencies of law enforcement and justice in the Territory".
[4] The hearings and taking of evidence were conducted over several months in 2021 in different sittings, and the report was finally delivered on 4 April 2022 to Mr Jaspert's successor as Governor, John Rankin.
[6] The report was 946 pages long (including appendices), and concluded that "[a]lmost everywhere, the principles of good governance, such as openness, transparency and even the rule of law, are ignored".
[9] The report also noted that various civil servants in the British Virgin Islands, including the Auditor General and the Director of Internal Audit had repeatedly drawn attention to these matters in a way that was "brave, forthright and clear" but that "they have been consistently ignored".
Most significantly amongst them, the report recommended that the Territory's Constitution be suspended and reviewed, and that the United Kingdom should reimpose direct rule over the islands for an initial period of up to two years.
The UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, dispatched Overseas Minister Amanda Milling to the British Virgin Islands for urgent talks as a result.
[11] The report recommended that direct rule be conducted in conjunction with an 'Advisory Council' of people from the Territory, referring to the "huge pool of talent and wisdom in the BVI".
[10] In an apparently unrelated incident, after the inquiry concluded and the report had been delivered, but before it was published, the Premier, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in Miami relating to charges of conspiracy to import drugs and money laundering.
[20] Later, in his own evidence before the inquiry, Jaspert indicated that he felt: "the Premier had behaved on more than one occasion was not “befitting of a professional or courteous manner from an elected leader of government”.
[22] Some of these allegations related to specific incidents of impropriety which had been well documented in the press, such as the BVI Airways fiasco, and the contracts for the building of the wall for the Elmore Stoutt High School in Road Town.
[7] The British Virgin Islands government retained former Attorney General of England and Wales, Sir Geoffrey Cox QC, to represent them at the inquiry.
[28] In his report Sir Gary noted that although the various lawyers were theoretically retained to act for "the government" as a whole, the reality was that it was "impossible to avoid the conclusion that the primary role of Withers was to defend the interests of the elected Ministers, which was vigorously and fully done.
In his report, Sir Gary noted "One substantial challenge was that some individuals who had information to divulge, expressed fear of discrimination or other forms of reprisal if they were seen to be assisting or even communicating with the COI.
"[39] He also noted that, despite public perceptions: "It was never intended that the COI would conduct in depth financial investigations into particular projects, programmes or people; or “chase” bad money.
[9] The report also noted that various civil servants in the British Virgin Islands, including the Auditor General and the Director of Internal Audit had repeatedly drawn attention to these matters in a way that was "brave, forthright and clear" but that "they have been consistently ignored".
