In an official release the Commission of Inquiry has released a statement seeking to clarifying the role of the IRU.
The statement said: It has been brought to the Commissioner’s attention that recent publicity and information about the BVI Government’s (BVIG) Inquiry Response Unit (IRU) is having a misleading effect resulting in confusion about the IRU’s role and function. To be clear, the IRU is not part of the independent Commission of Inquiry. It is a unit set up by the BVIG to work in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Chambers with a modest but helpful goal of assisting with the mechanics of producing information requested by the Commission of Government officials. The Commissioner has written to the Attorney General to register his concerns about this publicity, and asking for it to be corrected.
While the Commissioner welcomes the establishment of the IRU to help implement the BVIG’s expressed policy that all ministries, departments, statutory bodies and Government-owned entities provide appropriate and timely cooperation with the Inquiry, he wants to reassure members of the public, and public officers, that the IRU is wholly separate from the Commission. The Commission is, and will remain, entirely independent of the BVIG.
Members of the public cannot engage with the Commission through the IRU: if they wish to engage with the Commission, they should contact it directly.
The Commission renews its open invitation to anyone who believes they have information that may assist the Inquiry, who has not yet submitted it to the Commission, to submit that information as soon as possible via the secure website portal (www.bvi.public-inquiry.uk).
The Commission of Inquiry (“the Commission”) was announced on 18 January 2021 to look into whether corruption, abuse of office or other serious dishonesty may have taken place amongst public, elected and statutory officials in recent years. Sir Gary Hickinbottom is the sole Commissioner.