Lawyer says minister’s conduct increasingly resembles Trumpism

KVF reports that a dispute over official orders issued to the Agricultural Agency has resurfaced, with lawyer Jógvan Páll Lassen saying Minister Jacob Vestergaard is conflicted in the matter.

Tjóðveldi member of the Faroese parliament Liljan Weihe has again asked the prime minister whether it is acceptable for Vestergaard to publicly say he is prepared to issue the same orders again, after his administration concluded that they were unlawful.

The case concerns orders Vestergaard gave the Agricultural Agency to withdraw from a matter involving water in Skálavík. Shortly afterwards, his administration instructed the agency that the orders had been withdrawn.

Vestergaard later asked Anfinn V. Hansen for an external legal memorandum, which concluded that the minister had the authority to issue the orders. Speaking to Dagur og Vika on Tuesday, Vestergaard said he would issue orders again in the water case if necessary, even though his own administration had said that doing so would violate the law.

Lawyer Kristina Samuelsen said officials generally have a duty to follow instructions from a minister, but that this does not apply to every order.

“The most far-reaching exception is when an order contains an illegal act or action. Then one can refuse,” she said.

Samuelsen also cited situations in which employees have relevant professional expertise. She said, for example, that the captain of the Smyril could refuse to sail to Suðuroy if the ship had been docked because of severe weather and the captain considered it unsafe, even if the minister ordered the vessel to depart.

Lassen said he had no doubt that Vestergaard should not have issued orders to the Agricultural Agency.

“Jacob Vestergaard is a leaseholder. Under the law on public land, the Agricultural Agency supervises him. If Jacob Vestergaard can issue orders to the Agricultural Agency, then everything falls apart for me, and it should do so for the prime minister as well,” he said.

Lassen said Vestergaard’s position as a leaseholder could create difficult situations. In theory, he said, the agency could decide to terminate Vestergaard’s lease because he had neglected his responsibilities. Vestergaard could then use his authority as minister to order the agency not to terminate his lease.

“That means he is conflicted in this matter. That is what remains,” Lassen said.

“What I am afraid of is that this is beginning to resemble Trumpism: because one holds the position of minister, one thinks one can actually do exactly what one wants,” he said.