ATTORNEY Tasha Manley has been selected to participate in the American Fellows Programme administered by the Partners of the Americas and funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

The American Fellows Programme sponsors international exchanges of outstanding civil servants to promote mutual understanding and excellence among governments in the Western Hemisphere. This is undertaken by the exchange of technical expertise and resources by sending and receiving agencies that, in turn, serves to improve the relationship between the Unites States and its neighbours.

Manley, who is Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Office, will do her fellowship at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the Office of Co-operative Enforcement in Washington DC. While there she will see first-hand how the Commission ensures enforcement of commodity futures laws by engaging in criminal co-operative enforcement with Federal, State, and international agencies and branches of the US government. The fellowship will be for three months.

Manley is elated about the opportunity the fellowship affords her and looks forward to delving into the intricacies of the US and International Financial Regulatory framework. She believes that her participation in the programme will broaden her knowledge of the US justice system. This knowledge, Manley considers, will assist her in identifying areas of practice and procedure in the Attorney General’s Department that might need some adjustment and enable her to make meaningful recommendations for change.

Manley is also looking forward to investigating methods employed in dealing with financial crimes – knowledge that will be beneficial to her, particularly in light of the Mutual Criminal Assistance Agreements signed by the governments of Jamaica and the United States.

“I hope that exposure to US jurisprudence will enable me to contribute to the development of the legal system of my own country, and will no doubt assist me in litigation before the Jamaican courts in matters involving US law, particularly in issues of extradition, cross-border financial crimes, and asset forfeiture,” she said.