We sense that in the glare of media exposure, the Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry is slowly descending into a legal circus, as lawyers become intoxicated with the exuberance of their own verbosity and, frequently, cheekiness.

A commission of enquiry, unlike a court of law, allows the kind of latitude that is more conducive to getting at the truth. In a court of law, attorneys fight might and main to get a favourable verdict for their clients, which might not equate to the truth of the case.

The country wants to know, inter alia, whether the governance process was corrupted and subject to the needs of a political party, albeit the ruling party, in interfering into the matter of an extradition treaty between two nations — the United States and Jamaica.

At issue is whether the Jamaican prime minister, Mr Bruce Golding, acted in the interest of the country, Jamaica, or put the narrow interest of his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) before the national interest in his initial decision to resist the US extradition request for Mr Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, his constituent and known party supporter. And did he lie to the Parliament in denying knowledge of party interference.

One gets the impression that public interest in the Commission, certainly before it became a media event, was not very strong, and there was cynicism that nothing would come of it.

We don’t share that view. It is critical to have the enquiry, if only for the fact that as a nation it will help to make sense of the fact that over 73 people were killed during the security force operation last May to extract Mr Coke from his barricaded stronghold in Tivoli Gardens, Western Kingston.

But we fear we might not get there. Pandering always to the television cameras and the radio microphones, the gaggle of top lawyers representing the various witnesses, is making sure that nothing is said that can implicate their clients. It is worse than in a court of law, because this time, it is the court of public opinion and the main combatants are the governing JLP and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) for whom — no doubt — the 2012 election campaign is joined.

The Commissioner, the eminent Mr Emile George, must be feeling like a judge, except that he had not signed on for the job of a judge. And he does not appear to be comfortable with exchange of verbal missiles, and being called upon so frequently to separate sparring lawyers.

Of course, that is what lawyers do, one might argue. But if that is the case, we might as well conclude from now that the cynics were right after all and nothing will come of the Commission. Or, the interesting headline at the conclusion might only be about the amount of money earned in legal fees calculated at Mr Golding’s $30,000 an hour.

We acknowledge that some of the repartee make for good theatre and add interest to the broadcast facilitated by the Jamaica Information Service, and we are still hopeful that truth can be salvaged from the legal jungle at the Jamaica Conference Centre.