INTO POSSIBLE CORRUPTION OR OTHER SERIOUS DISHONESTY IN RECENT YEARS OF PAST AND PRESENT ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE

COMMISSION PRESS STATEMENT

9th January 2009

1. As indicated in the Commission’s Press Statement of 10th December 2008, the Commissioner, Sir Robin Auld, will open the Inquiry hearings on Tuesday, 13th January, in the Inquiry Room of the Regent Palms Hotel, at 10.30 a.m. The order and procedure of the hearings will be as indicated in the Commission’s Press Statement of 23 December 2008.
   
   
2. The Secretariat office in London will close from 5pm GMT time today, Friday 9 January 2009, and will remain closed until the end of the Commission’s proceedingsin Providenciales.
   
   
3. For future communication with the Commission, all telephone enquiries should be directed to the Secretariat office in Providenciales at 001 649 941 7451 and/or the Secretary, Laurance O’Dea, at 001 649 341 5353 or the Assistant Secretary, BaharAla-eddini, at 001 649 341 4940. All faxes should be re-directed to 0044 239 257 0283. All e-mail enquiries should be directed to secretary@tci-inquiry.org, lodea@tci-inquiry.org and/or bahar@tci-inquiry.org
   
   
4. All media enquiries should be directed to the Secretary to the Commission at the contact points above.
   
   
5. The Commission proposes to allow members of the press to take photographs and film from the back of the Inquiry room between 10.15am and 10.30am before proceedings begin on Tuesday 13th January 2009, but there will be no interviews then or later. Thereafter the Commission will not permit anybody to photograph or audio-record in, or to bring any cameras or recording equipment into, the Inquiry room. Any person in breach of this rule will be in contempt of the Commission, and subject to sanctions that follow contempt. It will also result in exclusion from the proceedings.
   
   
6. Members of the public and press may attend the hearings and, if they wish, make handwritten notes, unless the Commission decides to take evidence in camera, at which point the public and the press, will be required to leave the room. A transcript of proceedings will be prepared by the Commission. Copies of that transcript will be published daily by the Commission on its website, save where the proceedings are in camera. Transcripts may be quoted, with attribution, by any interested parties. The Commission urges any person who chooses to make use of this facility to do so accurately and fairly, using quotations in context.
   
   
7. The Commission is aware that certain websites or press sources are, or may be, claiming to be “sources” of material in relation to the Commission and the Inquiry. The Commission wishes to make clear that it has not authorised or endorsed any of these outlets, and it does not propose to do so. The Commission’s website (www.tci-inquiry.org) is and will remain the only official source of material in relation to the Inquiry, and will remain so throughout the existence of the Commission.
   
   
8. The Inquiry room will seat approximately 150 members of the public and press. A number of seats will be set aside for members of the press. These will be available on a first-come, first-served basis each day, and cannot be reserved. Likewise, seating for members of the public cannot be reserved, and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
   
   
9. The Commission will not permit the carrying of firearms or other weapons in the Inquiry room by any person other than legally authorised police officers. All persons entering the room must consent to being searched prior to entry. A register of all persons attending the hearings will be kept, and any person seeking to enter the Inquiry room must provide his or her name before doing so.
   
   
10. The Commission proposes to sit each working day between 10.30am and 1.00pm, and again between 2.00pm and 4.30pm, without any breaks. Each witness will be required to give evidence on oath or, if permitted by the Commissioner, by affirmation.
    
    
11. The anticipated programme for the first two weeks of the hearings is set out in the accompanying Schedule.
    
    
12. Please remember that the Regent Palms resort is an hotel, and follow the directions of security officers for both entering and leaving the resort. There will be no on-site parking, and security officers will direct persons who wish to attend the hearings to off-site parking. Refreshments will be available to those attending the Inquiry, at cost, immediately outside the Inquiry Room. No other facilities of the Hotel are open to members of the public present only for the purpose of attending the hearings.
    
    
Signed Commissioner to the Inquiry
Sir Robin Auld 9th January 2009

Provisional Programme of Inquiry Hearings
13th – 26th January 2009