Politicians should only get qualified immunity — Walwyn
Sixth District Representative Myron Walwyn believes politicians should not receive complete immunity in the House of Assembly. During a recent debate, Walwyn highlighted the need for more accountability among elected officials and those on statutory boards.
The lawmaker said he no longer believes in immunity, particularly when it comes to shielding persons from lawsuits. “I personally believe that people should be held responsible for their actions, that is my view now. If you are prepared to make certain decisions, you should not be able to hide behind immunity when the time comes for you to be held accountable,” Walwyn stated.
He argued that while immunity might protect politicians from frivolous lawsuits, it should not shield them from accountability for their actions.
Walwyn emphasised that the principle of qualified immunity — which shields officials from being sued unless their actions clearly violate someone’s rights — should extend to the House of Assembly.
“Even immunity in the House, I think it needs to be qualified. You just can’t come in here and say what you want, lambast anybody you want, defame anybody you want, and then say you’re in the precinct of the House, so nobody could carry you to the courthouse,” he argued.
The issue of immunity has been contentious in the BVI, particularly in the wake of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report, which underscored numerous instances of corruption and mismanagement. The report suggested that the lack of accountability mechanisms has allowed corrupt practices to flourish in the territory.
Walwyn criticised COI Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom and his panel for securing immunity in the United Kingdom parliament, shielding them from prosecution in the courts.
“So he could write all the things them that he want in that report, and then run home and lock he door and nobody can go in there and grab he? That can’t be right. If you’re going to write a report that impugns the character of people, you should be man enough to stand up to the scrutiny of it,” Walwyn argued.
He also referenced a past proposal to grant police officers immunity while acting under a warrant, which sparked significant public backlash. He drew parallels between that proposal and the current state of political immunity, suggesting that both reflect a troubling trend of unaccountability in governance.
“I am concerned about that. This immunity thing, we’re giving power to people who are just reckless. They’re not applying their good common sense. They’re not taking time to look through things,” Walwyn insisted. “They just simply say they have immunity and they make decisions that affect people’s lives and they can hide behind the law.”
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Here this hypocrite he think we forget 8 years of him calling up names of people and businesses trying to victimize
Go sit down and tell us about the wall money…
The guy responsible for the wall.
The guy now being the minister of health.
The lady now being the minister of education.
The guy who throws all the parties without providing any financial report.
The guy responsible for the BVI airlines debacle.
Should all be in prison and not benefit from any immunity whatsoever.
So in your world you just throw people in jail just like that? Tells what kind of person you really are. And I guess you conveniently forgot to add all the indiscretions of the less than truthful commissioner of police that we have. I could tell your skin color just from your post. GTFOH
Funny you mention skin color. You don’t have the slightest clue.
But the evidence has been presented in all cases I mentioned. Sure drag them to court and let the judge decide.
But you defending a bunch of crooks says more about you than about anyone’s skin colour.
I can’t wait for Walwyn and the others that you all charge to sue ayo. Set of wicked people. And btw your little blog is not the court of justice in case you didn’t know.
This country have to immune itself from people like Myron. A hyp***yte to the core and always makes it seems like he is looking out for the people but what he is really looking out for is his pocket.
Immunity? That’s what we need!
It’s perfect to cover our greed.
The people won’t know
How rich we’ll all grow
As they struggle with mouths they must feed.
the little power you had when you had the HOA as your play pen has already evaporated . you need to stay on your yello site where you are king and spew out your racist narratives , you bad mouthing this site and yet you want to play your blogging game on it with pure sh*t , as you does on on your yello / the money for the wall was paid to construct a wall and if the wall was not constructed properly its the duty of the ruling government to sue those so called contractors who was paid by taxpayers money to build the wall /\ and was paid to make walwyn look bad by your coach , so they got paid two times – why do you think they are afraid to sue those wannabe contractors ❓️ because some of them are involved in the conspiracy , but you here playing judge , jury & executioner on walwyn and others like Cindy ? The governor ,the commissioner and the UK/ if you are so intelligent , why didn’t you take on MARK one on one when you were ACTING like you OWNED the HOA ❓️ and why aren’t you in Miami helping out your coach , instead of of yapping like a parrot down here . I’ve seen many types of parrots none as dark as you and it has to do with your dirty mind and way of thinking
He even resembles one LOL
is the british virgin islands a part of a
national government (united kingdom) or a United Kingdom Coalition Government?