Constitution to reflect changing societal norms – AG

Barbados’ new Constitution will be a reflection of life in the 21st century and changing societal norms.

That is according to Attorney General Dale Marshall, who has maintained that a Constitution must be adaptable and adjustable when so required.

At the same time, the man who heads the 10-member committee that will draft the new Constitution says “bold and innovative thinking” along with “sober and cautious reflection” will be required as they carry out their important task.

Retired Justice Christopher Blackman and Marshall were speaking on Friday during the official launch of the Constitutional Reform Commission at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, which was followed by the commission’s first working session.

“Constitutions are a living document and must be both strong enough to withstand the buffeting of the winds of change, while at the same time being adaptable, and adjusting and changing when circumstances require.

“Neither legal thinking nor societies have stood still over the years, and we must ensure that our supreme law takes into account, where appropriate, the developments in the law and our changing societal norms,” Marshall said.

He identified several changes in recent times that he believes should be reflected in the Constitution.

“Consider, for example, the progression from the legality of capital punishment, which was mandatory, to the current position seen in the decisions of the CCJ in the case of Nervais, which ruled that the mandatory death penalty in Barbados was unconstitutional. Consider also the emerging trend in the approach of regional courts in respect of LGBTQI rights and the constitutional protection of those rights,” he said.

“…Equally too, some of the new rights that are emerging for the commission’s consideration will take on a special significance for the younger Barbadians: rights that are beginning to coalesce around such concepts as the right to digital security and the right to one’s own digital data, as well as the right of equality of access to digital and computing spaces.”

Furthermore, the Attorney General said he expected interest to be paid to issues such as the first-past-the-post system; proportional representation; term limits and fixed election dates; the nature of the public service; the role of the public servant in politics; and citizenship rights, among others.

Marshall said while the process would be a tough one, he had “full confidence” that the commission would get the job done.

Justice Blackman, in his address, acknowledged the significance of the task ahead.

“Fashioning a new constitution for the 21st century and beyond should fill us with both excitement and trepidation. We may have only one chance to get it right. Generations to come will judge us on how adequately we rose to the occasion. I say ‘we’, advisedly, because this is not a task entrusted only to the few; all Bajans shoulder that responsibility,” he said.

The retired judge stressed that a Constitution “reflects the hopes and dreams of a nation, tells the rest of the world who we are, what we believe, and what we aspire to be”.

“It calls for bold and innovative thinking at the same time as sober and cautious reflection,” he said.

“It is therefore with both humility and a sense of the historic nature of this occasion that I trust that the final product of our deliberations, the Constitution of Barbados, might earn the approval and respect of future historians, serve as the template of choice for those who follow us in becoming a parliamentary republic, and be the mirror in which the citizens of Barbados should see themselves and their aspirations reflected,” he said.

The Constitutional Reform Commission has been mandated to examine, consider and enquire into the Barbados Constitution and all other related laws and matters, with a view to the development and enactment of a new Constitution for Barbados.

Justice Blackman said that to do so, the commission would have the broadest possible consultation with Barbadians at home, abroad, or in the diaspora; increase public interest in the subject of Constitutional reform; and prepare and distribute material and information that would deepen public knowledge about the Constitution.

Justice Blackman said the commission welcomed any constructive suggestions to advance the exercise.

He pointed out that significant institutions such as the Office of the President, the Office of the Prime Minister, the judiciary, the media, trade unions, business organisations, the religious community including Rastafarians, political parties, professional and charitable organisations and other NGOs will be afforded an opportunity to meet privately with the commission.

The retired judge said copies of the Guyana Constitution have been provided to assist the commission in its work.

Along with Justice Blackman, the members of the Constitutional Reform Commission are President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled, Kerryann Ifill; President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union, Mary-Anne Redman; attorneys-at-law Senator Gregory Nicholls and Sade Jemmott; UWI lecturer, Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles; Muslim Chaplin at the UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Suleiman Bulbulia; Senator Reverend Dr. John Rogers; student advocate, Khaleel Kothdiwala; former Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite; and businessman, Chris deCaires. (RB)