Edward Manibusan
THE bill that would exclude autonomous agencies and public corporations from the legal services provided by the Office of the Attorney General is unconstitutional, according to Attorney General Edward E. Manibusan.
He was commenting on House Bill 23-46, which is now with the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government and Law.
Authored by Rep. Vincent S. Aldan and passed by the House of Representatives on July 28, 2023, H.B. 23-46 would allow autonomous agencies and public corporations to hire their own legal counsel, “which will enable them to receive independent and objective legal advice that is aligned with their interests.”
Right now, the only autonomous agency that does not get legal services from the OAG is the Marianas Public Land Trust. The rest, like the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the Commonwealth Ports Authority, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., and the Public School System, receive legal advice from assistant AGs.
According to H.B. 23-46, “One of the concerns raised is the potential conflict of interest that may arise when the Attorney General provides legal counsel to public corporations and autonomous agencies.”
Autonomous agencies and public corporations, the bill stated, “are established with their own board of directors or governing body and are therefore separate and distinct from the Commonwealth government.”
In some cases, “the interest of the public corporations or autonomous agency may not necessarily align with the interests of the Commonwealth government. This may create a situation where the Attorney General is unable to provide objective and independent legal advice to both entities. This, in turn, may undermine the principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability that the CNMI upholds.”
In his letter to the Senate committee chair, Sen. Karl King-Nabors, Manibusan cited Article III, Section 11 of the CNMI Constitution which states, “The Attorney General shall be responsible for providing legal advice to the governor and executive departments (including public corporations and autonomous agencies), representing the Commonwealth in all legal matters, and prosecuting violations of Commonwealth law.”
Manibusan said excluding autonomous agencies and public corporations would require a constitutional amendment.
The AG noted that along with H.B. 23-46, its author also introduced H.L.I. 23-1, which proposes to amend the CNMI Constitution to require autonomous agencies and public corporations to hire private counsel.
But the AG said this proposed constitutional amendment “seeks to undo the will of the people” when they established an independent Office of the Attorney General headed by an elected AG. He noted that H.L.I. 17-2, which made the AG an elected position instead of appointed, was ratified by an overwhelming majority of CNMI citizens.
Manibusan said the reasons for this overwhelming support for an elected AG “were due to the corruption of prior administrations, the scandals of previous attorneys general, and vast sums of money paid to private attorneys to resolve disputes between government agencies, which could have been easily resolved by having the Commonwealth and the agencies represented by the attorney general.”
He said H.B. 23-46 “will not serve to make the Commonwealth a better place, but will undo the purpose of H.L.I. 17-2, which was to maintain consistent legal positions and policies based on Commonwealth law to effectively manage and use Commonwealth resources and guarantee the autonomy and independence of an elected attorney general.”
