THE Prime Minister still cannot lay any part of a controversial firearm licence audit as the Court of Appeal says this seems to be “some way off” since those who may have been named in it have not been given an opportunity to respond to any allegation against them.

On Wednesday, Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux, Peter Rajkumar and Maria Wilson said they could not say Justice Devindra Rampersad was wrong to grant the injunction.

However, while the injunction remains, it was deemed to be “too wide” by the court and was varied.

Dr Rowley cannot lay the report in Parliament or a summary of it except to those who are named in it so they can make representations. These comments are to be incorporated into the report and the audit report can be shared with Cabinet.

Those who will receive a copy of the report will only get those parts which affect them. The judges ordered that the report must be redacted and this will remain in place until Justice Rampersad gives his decision on the challenge to the report, which he is expected to do on March 3.

In delivering the oral decision, Bereaux said the injunction was “unnecessarily wide” as it prevented not only those affected by it to respond but also Cabinet from considering the contents of the report which may have implications for national security.

The State was given the liberty to apply for leave to take its challenge of the injunction further.

On December 13, High Court judge Devindra Rampersad granted the injunction in favour of former commissioner of police Gary Griffith after the state failed to give an undertaking that the audit report would not be laid in Parliament. Almost immediately, the state filed an appeal to "correct the errors" made by the judge.

In their ruling, the judges faulted Rampersad on his finding of the failure of the State to give an undertaking in court. They said the assurance was acceptable in a court of law.

However, they agreed with him on the natural justice complaint raised by Griffith since they, too, agreed there was a serious issue to be tried on the question of the legality of setting up the audit committee of retired police officers.

[caption id="attachment_914822" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Former police commissioner Gary Griffith. File photo[/caption]

“The difficulty is that the assurance doesn't answer the question if the PM had the power to appoint the committee.

“...There is a serious question to be tried on the natural justice point as they (those affected) have not been given an opportunity to be a part of the investigation.”

Bereaux also raised the issue of the apparent breach by National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds who referred to an aspect of the report at a joint select committee of Parliament, last month but said there was not an appeal on this issue.

They also said Rampersad could not be faulted on his finding on the question of prejudice and did consider the public interest aspect of being able to lay the report in Parliament, saying he did not have to go into details in his decision