Past Events

Formal opening of the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC)

The Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) was formally launched at the conference room of the National Insurance on Friday November 18, 2005.  The occasion saw the concurrence of both major political parties and other representative of civil society on the need for the Constitutional Reform.  The ceremony which was carried live on radio and television was addressed by the Chairperson of the Commission, Madamme Justice Suzie D'auvergne, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister and the Guest Speaker; Parnell Campbell QC , Chairperson of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution Review Commission.

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Press Launching of the CRC

Although the Constitutional Reform Commission was formally launched in 18th of November 2005, this Press Launching was meant to rekindle awareness of the CRC and its work.
 

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Address by the Chair Person of the Commission  - Madame Justice Susie D'auvergne

 It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you here present to the media launch of the Constitutional reform Commission. I stress the word “media” for as you will recall the Commission was launched on the 18th of November 2005, but only went into active operation on the 1st of June 2006.

During that period the Commission underwent a process of self education, preparing itself for the task of engaging the people in encounters in order to ascertain their views.

The Commission is non partisan. The commissioners have been chosen from all walks of life. They represent a broad based cross section of our St. Lucian society. Some were not as knowledgeable as others on Constitution reform thus making self education a necessity.

We the Commissioners are of the view that we are now ready to answer your questions about the Constitution.

I want to stress that the Commission has not been established to defend the current Constitution but to receive your views on what, if any changes should be included in a new Constitution.

The Commission urges all St. Lucians here and abroad to actively participate in the Constitutional Review process. Every St. Lucian has a right to have a voice concerning the supreme law of our nation.

The Commission has commenced its outreach programme; and at the conclusion of this programme it will be compiling its findings and will present them to Parliament.

The Commission is mandated to file recommendations to Parliament on its findings, not to change the Constitution.

I therefore take this opportunity at the opening of this media launch to beseech all St. Lucians here and abroad, and those of you who are resident in St. Lucia to secure your rights and raise your voices.

Please pick up a questionnaire and our review brochure; write to us and inform us of your views. This is your one chance to shape your Constitution.

I thank you.
 

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“CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM – SOME ISSUES”

  by Ms. Veronica Cenac – Commissioner

The Constitution is the supreme law of the land which represents a social contract between the citizen and state and sets out the procedure and limits of lawful governance. A constitution is not merely a legal document in the nature of ordinary legislation, but a socio-political construct within which individuals can live full lives. Constitutional design therefore takes account of the indefinite overlap of economics, political science, philosophy, sociology, law and history.

My task today is to raise some of the critical issues surrounding constitutional reform as we launch the process of citizen participation in self-determination. As Commissioners our task is to reflect the essence of how the populace of Saint Lucia both within and outside this country believes we should as a people are governed and how as citizens we may treat each other.

Commonwealth Caribbean Constitutions generally set out the architecture of government, including, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary (or court system). It guards the fundamental rights of citizens, sets out how persons are selected for important official positions and their responsibilities, electoral rules for selecting representatives of elected government and procedures for making policy, the methods by which government may lawfully amend and adopt new laws, areas in which private decisions or decisions of other levels of government are to be protected from central government intrusion. In a nutshell a constitution is the law for making laws.

From a historical perspective, however, it has been argued that our constitutions do not represent in the true sense a social contract having been handed down to the colonies of the West Indies by our former colonial “master” Britain.

Professor Simeon McIntosh in a paper on Caribbean Constitutional Reform in 2002 explains that the post-colonial constitutions of the Anglophone Caribbean countries were drafted 'as part of an oligarchic, elitist exercise'. Because the 'collective self' was not the author of the political community, these constitutions continue to be perceived as received instruments from former colonial masters, 'fundamentally illegitimate, of subjection to imposition from without.' McIntosh asserts

“The independence constitutions are Orders-in-Council of the British Imperial Parliament - amended versions of the colonial constitution, with Bills of Rights engrafted onto them. This allowed easy transition from colony to independent state. This continuity implied no important changes between the colonial and independent constitution. The parliamentary system remained virtually the same, and the constitutions, for the most part, are said to have remained monarchical”.

While I believe that this view has limited relevance to the process of constitutional reform in St. Lucia it establishes in my view the essential requirement for inclusion by way of public debate, education and requests for written memoranda to as wide an audience as possible. This requires participation from a wide cross-section of Saint Lucians, to take up the challenge in shaping a document that is home-grown and reflective of a people who have exercised self-determination in divesting the shackles of our colonial past and meeting the challenges of the 21st Century.

These sentiments have been echoed by the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves in a keynote address delivered to a Conference on Constitutional Reform in the Caribbean on January 21, 2002 when he stated,

“Constitutional reform is not a political abstraction. It is a major, political exercise in governance involving real flesh-and-blood people awash with their peculiarities and contradictions, conditioned by their socio-political history and contemporary reality. The very exercise in constitution-making ought to involve an unprecedented campaign of structured, mass political education of all the relevant philosophical, practical, legal, political, historical and comparative issues. This educational programme demands, first, a thorough-going understanding of the existing constitutions, their strengths and weakness, possibilities and limitations. The particular options in constitution reform will then be better appreciated. This educational campaign ought to be, as far as the competitive political market can bear, a national, as distinct from a party political affair. After all, the new constitutions will go to the people in a referendum for approval”.

When a society thinks it necessary to reform or to "modernize" its constitution, the following ought to be considered:

1.   The strengthening of the individuals rights and freedoms and their effective enforcement; including;

a)      the expansion of rights to include social and economic rights

b)      enforcement of rights against non-state actors.

2.  The deepening of political democracy and review the structure of governance, including;

a)      the democratization of government at the local or community levels

b)      the consolidation and extension of the independence and quality of the judiciary including the move from the         Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of Justice

c)       whether to adopt a republican model or alternate to constitutional monarchy.

d)      The Westminster model- appointment and powers of the Senate

e)       Powers of the Prime Minister

3.   The making of government more transparent, honest, accountable and effective including reform of the Public Service;

4.   The facilitating of the process of political integration in the Caribbean.

As time does not permit an in-depth analysis of all the issues I will proceed to highlight some of the critical issues which the Commission hopes will be debated to their fullest extent.

Fundamental Rights and Freedoms

Human rights or fundamental rights and freedoms contained in our constitution are generally reflective of political and civil rights recognized by legal jurists as natural rights. These include; the right to life, not to be deprived of property without due process or adequate compensation, liberty, freedom of speech, and freedom of association. Our constitutions do not take account of the growing body of social and economic rights espoused in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which came into force in 1976 after ratification by 35 member states of the United Nations. This covenant recognizes the right to work, health, and education among others. More recently there have been calls to protect the right to environment and to review the existing grounds of discrimination to include, disability, and sexual orientation. There is also a need to strengthen protection of the right to privacy and confidentiality against the backdrop of the impact of HIV and AIDS and the new technological age or digital divide.

Notwithstanding the provisions for political and civil rights, the protective provisions regarding individuals fundamental rights and freedoms are framed, in many cases, in language which limits the exercise of those rights and freedoms and which, correspondingly, affords the State too great an intervening power. So that in St. Lucia there is no abrogation of rights where state action can be supported on the basis that it is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.

Further, the constitutional provisions governing access to the Courts in respect of constitutional challenges to the State’s conduct on matters outside the ambit of fundamental rights and freedoms are inadequate in a modern, liberal democratic society. The tendency of some judges to be restrictive in their view of the principles of locus standi (a person’s standing to gain access to the Courts) and/or in their application of these principles, even if liberally stated, is also a limitation.

Also the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms are exercisable as against state agencies and largely are not accessible where rights are breached by private individuals.

The Deepening of Political Democracy

That the Commonwealth Caribbean countries have a competitive multi-party system which is seen as an essential pre-requisite for the maintenance, consolidation and enhancement of individual liberty and popular democracy; however, the Constitution makes no provision for the maintenance of political parties. Juridically, political parties do not exist in the Caribbean.

There is no regulation of political parties particularly on issues relating to campaign financing and to a large extent no regulation guiding the functions and responsibilities of Parliamentary representatives, including, recall, the relationship of the voter to the representative. Presently, there is an absence of any proper mechanisms for the voters to bring their elected representatives to account during the five-year term for which he or she is elected.

Is there a need for local government elected not nominated based on party lines? How do we secure the involvement of a wider-cross section of the population or civil society in the democratic process particularly where the Senate is a veritable rubber-stamp of the decisions or actions of the House of Assembly. Is there a need to adopt a unicameral legislature? The experiences of St. Vincent however demonstrate that the unicameral legislature in that regard serves as a rubber stamp of Executive (Cabinet) decision. An alternative, therefore, may be required or an in-depth revision of the role, responsibilities and power of the Senate particularly that of independent Senators.

Germaine to the issue of removing the Constitution from the remaining vestiges of colonial status include: 

The Head of State as the hereditary monarch of the colonial ruler. 
Therefore there should be debate on whether to adopt a republican model and do away with the link to the English Monarchy. This has been highlighted by many Caribbean nations as essential to the spirit of self-determination. Notwithstanding, a President in large measure assumes the Constitutional role of the Governor General in republics like Trinidad and Tobago.

Further, the transition from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of Justice. 

There is also a need to review the first-past-the-post electoral system which may be argued insufficiently provides fair and democratic representation of the people and consider proportional representation or a mixture of these systems as has been recommended by political scientists and governments 

The excessive powers of the Prime Minister in the constitutional and political apparatuses to such an extent that Parliamentary government is reduced not merely to Cabinet government but to Prime Ministerial government in the words of PM Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines supported, Erskine Sandiford and Tom Adams former Prime Ministers of Barbados must be considered in the process of deepening political democracy.

Reform of the Public Service

There are no constitutional provisions to address adequately or at all administrative abuses by public servants in their relationships with members of the public; the normal statute law and/or common law do not provide sound, inexpensive and procedurally swift remedies for such abuses. Further, there is a need to protect public service from political interference while maintaining efficiency.

The Commission is mandated to make recommendations to the Government of St. Lucia, the extent of which may require amendments to the existing Constitution or an entirely new document. It is anticipated that in either case before significant amendments can be made the entire issue will be placed before the citizens of St. Lucia in a referendum.

The Commission therefore calls on every St. Lucian to “Secure your rights – Raise your voice” to ensure a document that is home grown and reflects the needs and aspirations of our people as we meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

Consultations at the schools

During the year 2007, the Commission held discussions with the upper forms of all of the Secondary Schools on the island.  The Students were briefed on the salient provisions of the Constitution after which they were given a chance to make recommendations for the refashioning of the Constitution.

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