Rogue telecommunications carriers will be dissuaded from their cheating and anti-competitive ways with new laws passed by the House of Assembly yesterday, the Government hopes.

But Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt says the laws go too far and trample on Constitutional rights of appeal.

Mr. Barritt, a lawyer, took great exception to new provisions in the Telecommunications Act which prevent the courts from ordering costs against the Minister of Telecommunications in the event of a successful appeal against a decision by the Minister.

The law also prevents the court from staying the Minister's decision pending the outcome of the appeal. But it increases the time period for lodging an appeal.

Mr. Barritt told the House he found the proposal "unbelievable".

"The effect of this is to make any if not most, or all appeals a waste of time," he said.

Renee Webb, the Telecommunications Minister, said the law will help put a stop to frivolous lawsuits. And she said the hardline approach - the bill also creates harsher penalties and new criminal sanctions - can be justified by past experience with telecommunications carriers.

"The incumbent carriers tried to stymie the process of introducing competition" in the past with lawsuits and other tactics. "That has not ceased," she said in a five hour parliamentary debate.

She pointed out that the Ministry had been involved in seven court cases - one of which went all the way up to the Privy Council. But that Government had won all of them.

"If they are not able to stop the process they want to delay the process... This legislation will bring about competition and avoid anti-competitive behaviour". She said the law was not meant to stop carriers bringing court cases.

But "the court cases we have had have been simply to delay the process". Extensive consultation with the carriers had taken place in preparing the legislation added Ms Webb.

Full debate:Page 4