Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller said in court documents yesterday that Prime Minister Bruce Golding informed her in writing on November 16 of the reasons for his recommendation that the members of the Public Service Commission be removed from office.

The following are the reasons:

In the action brought by Mr. Lackston Robinson, a former Deputy Solicitor General (acting) against the Public Service Commission, the Supreme Court found, inter alia, that the Public Service Commission "displayed a cavalier attitude to justice and due process and has breached the applicant's rights to procedural fairness and natural justice. This constitutes a breach of Section 13 of the Constitution of Jamaica and is, therefore unlawful, null and void.

"The recommendation of the Public Service Commission for the appointment of a Solicitor General is procedurally flawed and open to challenge on the grounds of bias and conflict of interest and the following was given ostensibly as the particulars:

"In the case referred to above, Mr. Douglas Leys, one of the applicants for the post of Solicitor General, had issued an affidavit in support of Mr. Robinson's claim in which he was harshly critical of the conduct and decisions of the former Solicitor General, Mr. Michael Hylton, and the Commission. Yet the Commission, in its assessment of the applicants for the post, relied in part on the evaluation provided by Mr. Hylton it was well aware of the less than harmonious relationship that has existed between Mr. Hylton and Mr. Leys.

"One member of the Commission who participated in the interview process failed to recuse herself, knowing the relationship between Mr. Hylton and Mr. Leys, which I contend she should have done, given the fact that she is the mother of Mr. Hylton's child. The other members of the Commission,being aware of this, appear not to have considered it to be of any relevance.

"In interviewing the applicants on October 2, 2007, the Commission established an interviewing panel which included two persons who are not members of the Commission. These persons participated in the interviews and their scores were included in the overall score on which the Commission has based its recommendation. These persons were ostensibly performing the functions of members of the Commission without holding membership of the Commission. It is unfortunate that the Cabinet Secretary was one of these participants - a clear breach of the intention, if not the letter of Section 124 (3) of the Constitution which bars holders of public office from serving as members of the Commission. Surely, the members of the Commission must have known that this procedure was wrong."

President of the Jamaican Bar Association John Leiba was one of the participants on the commission.

Lackston Robinson had taken the PSC to court after he was reverted to his substantive post of Senior Assistant Attorney-General after acting in a clear vacancy for more than a year.

He claimed he should have been assessed in the acting post before he was reverted. After he filed the suit against the PSC he was sent on leave and the PSC subsequently recommended that he should be retired. In July, the Supreme Court ordered that he should be reinstated and Mr. Justice Roy Jones criticised the PSC for the manner in which Mr. Robinson was treated.