ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CHAMBERS

 

Legal Report by the Hon. Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE KC on the ceremonial sitting to mark the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the Year 2024

May it please you my Lady Honourable Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands Mrs. Justice Mabel Agyemang

My Lady, the Honourable Ms. Justice Tanya Lobban-Jackson

My Lords, the Honourable Justice Mr. Anthony Gruchot; the Honourable Justice Mr. Chris Selochan; the Honourable Justice Mr. David Baptiste

Introduction and Protocol – My Lady Chief Justice, it is with great pleasure that I rise to address your Ladyship to move the motion for the ceremonial sitting marking the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the year 2023 standing in the company of my fellow members of the legal fraternity

My Lady, please permit me to recognize the presence of the many specially invited guests who have joined us today:

Her Excellency the Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam

The Honourable Premier, Hon. C Washington Misick

The Honourable Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Gordon Burton

Her Excellency, the Deputy Governor, Anya Williams

The Honourable Deputy Premier, Hon. Erwin Jay Saunders

Hon. Honourable Cabinet Ministers of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government

The Honourable Leader of the Opposition Hon. Edwin Astwood

Rt. Hon. Sir Declan Morgan PC

The Honourable Chairperson and Members of the Judicial Service Commission (attending virtually) Former Justice of Appeal of Jamaica Hillary Phillips CD, KC, Former Chief Justice of Jamaica Zaila McCalla OJ, Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court the Hon. Dame Janice Pereira DBE

Acting President of the Court of Appeal, The Honourable Justice of Appeal K. Neville Adderley

The Honourable Justice of Appeal Mr. Stanley John (attending virtually)

The Honourable Justice of Appeal Mr. Bernard Turner (attending virtually)

The Honourable Justice of Appeal Mr. Michael Hylton (attending virtually)

His Honour Joylon Hatmin Chief Magistrate

Her Honour, Mrs. Oreika Selver-Gardiner Resident Magistrate

Her Honour, Ms. Mickia Mills - Coroner

Her Honour, Ms. Patricia Arana Ag. Resident Magistrate

Mr. Narendra Lalbeharry Registrar of the Supreme Court

The President of the Bar Council Mrs. Tremmaine Harvey

The Doyen of the Bar Mr. Ariel Misick KC

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions – Dr. Angela Brooks

Acting Commissioner of Police Mr. Rodney Adams

Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Mr. Michael Woodbine and Mr. Raymond Grant (Attending virtually)

Director of Social Development Ms. Tiffany Thomas-Browne

Director of Rehabilitation and Community Services Mr. Jaron Harvey

Former Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Eugene Otuonye KC

Former Chief Secretary Mrs. Cynthia Astwood

Canon Mark Kendall and Rev. Desiree Johnson

Distinguished invited guests

My Lady, in moving this motion, I wish to make some brief remarks on 2023 and what is planned for the year ahead.

My Lady, in 2023 my legislative drafting division delivered 32 Ordinances and 82 pieces of subsidiary legislation in accordance with the Government’s legislative agenda.  Of those 119 pieces of work, 37% related to Finance and financial compliance, 13% related to Immigration and Border control with another 13% related to the Tourism sector, 12% related to the justice delivery, 8% related to Home Affairs with the remainder accounted for under Health, Education, the Legislature and Lands.

Some notable pieces of legislation –

• The Agriculture Regulation Ordinance 2023 consolidated the law on agriculture and established the National Agriculture and Food Security Board to advise on the development of an agriculture and food security plan for the Islands and to monitor the Agro-Incentive Programme established under the Department of Agriculture.
• The Cemeteries Ordinance 2023 provides a comprehensive framework for the establishment, administration and maintenance of public and private cemeteries in the Islands to ensure that the public have access to cemeteries which are properly structured, well maintained, accessible and where plots are protected and related activities.
• The Crown Land (Residential Conditional Purchase Lease) (Arrears and Mesne Profit) (Amnesty) Ordinance 2023 established an amnesty period of two years to facilitate the recommendations of the Crown Land Review Report to increase home ownership through regularizing residential conditional purchase leases and writing-off accrued arrears and mesne profit.
• The Turks and Caicos Island Tourist Board (Dissolution) Ordinance 2023 dissolved the Tourist Board and repealed the 1990 Tourism Ordinance to achieve a new policy objective of improving the management and regulation of the tourism ecosystem in the Islands.
• The Destination Management Fee Ordinance 2023 as part of the new policy shift, introduced a destination management fee of $10 collected from all arriving passengers to be used for the protection of the environment, the promotion of sustainable tourism, the recovery, rehabilitation and maintenance of historical and cultural heritage, the support of education and training, the maintenance and development of tourist sites and the marketing of the Islands.
• The Tourism Regulation and Licensing Ordinance revoked the 1978 Tourist Accommodation (Licensing) Ordinance to establish a new Tourism Regulation Department to improve the licensing process, and the supervision and regulation of current and future premises and tourism services.

In the year ahead, work will continue on wide ranging proposals to improve the legislative framework around Immigration and Border security given the existential threats arising from irregular migration and to strengthen law enforcement through multi-agency initiatives to combat the impacts of transnational and firearms crimes. 

Constitutional reform: My Lady, instructed by the Hon. Premier and the Hon. Leader of the Opposition and working with a Constitutional expert, Sir Jeffrey Jowell KC, I have led the nearly concluded negotiations with the UKG seeking constitutional reform seeking to realise their bipartisan vision for a Constitution reflecting the modern, mature relationship that exists between the UK and the TCI.  As part of those reforms it is expected that Constitutional recognition of the role of the Chief Justice and advancements in the framework around the judicial administration as well as the police administration will be agreed to aid justice delivery and promote increased respect for the rule of law.

My Commercial division produced 166 agreements and 253 legal opinions.  Notably, the Government prioritized efforts to promote e-government by digitizing key systems and services. One of the first of these to proceed to contract stage is the Electronic Procurement, a designed and built digital process for submission and review of business cases, evaluation of tenders, reporting and management. The Land Registry Digitization contract will create a digital repository to host all land registry instruments, records, and other documents that will shorten the time for retrieval and increase record security and integrity. The E Gates system for border entry will see the use of biometric data for entry into the country. It would be great if E-Justice could receive Government support in the upcoming budget cycle.

The inaugural Commercial Instructions Drafting Training was held in June 2023, with a focus on assisting senior public sector managers to more effectively communicate their needs in the form of detailed instructions in order to improve project delivery, and to raise greater awareness and improve understanding of the commercial contracts templates and commercial and legal risks management.

My International Division collaborated with key stakeholders to improve the TCI's compliance with its international obligations through focus groups tackling issues and finding solutions in the area of maritime, cyber-security, virtual assets and virtual assets service providers, countering terrorism financing and financing of weapons proliferation, the crypto assets, sanctions, and compliance reporting with the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of a Child, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (the Merida Convention) and the Terrorist Financing Convention.

The division collaborated with the Governor’s Office, the ODPP and law enforcement partners on nine incoming and outgoing mutual legal assistance matters (including extradition) to strengthen criminal investigations where critical evidence was shown to be or suspected of being in another jurisdiction and coordinating responses to requests for such assistance from other jurisdictions. The Division also completed four (4) MOUs on behalf of FIA and other law enforcement agencies.

The Division conducted training programs to improve stakeholders’ level of understanding of the FATF AML/CFT standards and requirements, and provided AML/CFT Training to the members of the Immigration and Customs Departments and sourced training from the USDOJ for AGC, ODPP, LEAs on the Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition process.

My Lady, thanks to the leadership of my International division, the CFATF’s assessment of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ technical compliance with the FATF’s Recommendations is now rated as largely compliant or compliant on 37 out of 40. Our jurisdiction continues to make progress on the three remaining FATF Recommendations through the completion of a revised National Risk Assessment to better identify, assess and understand our money laundering and terrorist financing risks so that we can apply AML/CFT measures that correspond to the level of risks.  Mr. Kerry Lucio has been appointed as the TCI’s first National AML/CFT Coordinator to drive the delivery of this national effort.  Mr. Lucio is an experienced and EU/CFATF accredited AML/CFT and financial analyst and investigator with in-depth knowledge of the FATF Recommendations and their application with experience in leading multi-jurisdictional project teams.  Judicial and legal colleagues are encouraged to engage with him in this national effort.

The hard working team in my Civil litigation division had another busy year dominated by judicial review challenges particularly in the area of immigration, planning, Inland Revenue and status claims and consultation. This area of work needs  

Staff: My Lady, since my last report, Ms. Khadija MacFarlane, Ms. Meera Goalan and Ms. Tesharna Williams each took up appointments as Senior                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Crown Counsel and Crown Counsel.  We welcome their arrival and the contributions they made during the course of the year.  In 2023 my Chambers continued to discharge our responsibilities to the growth and development of Islander attorneys through the training and moving the applications for the admission of Tamika Simms-Williams in April, Tavania Wilson in July, Tesharna Williams in December with Gardiner lined up for this quarter.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have positions to keep all of them, we were able to employ two of them as Crown Counsel positions which are reserved for Islanders for many years. With the recent appointments 100% of crown counsel positions are occupied by bright, young Turks and Caicos Islanders.

We are now at full complement but given the growing pace and volume of work, I am conducting a review of the structure of my Chambers.  I anticipate the support of the Government through increased manpower and resourcing to ensure a healthy and productive work environment through improve work flow and more effective delivery of responsive and solutions oriented advice and representation.

My Lady, as law officers, we stand in full support of the work of the judiciary and wish you, and the entire judiciary a prosperous and productive New Year.

CONCLUSION

My Lady, in conclusion, it has been yet another full year and undoubtedly challenges lie ahead for the forthcoming one. We are ready to face those challenges.

My Lady, it remains for me to formally move for the Opening of the Legal Year 2024.

May it please the Court.

Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles, OBE KC

Hon. Attorney General

4^th January 2024

Legal Report by the Hon. Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE KC on the ceremonial sitting to mark the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the Year 2023

May it please you my Lady Chief Justice Mrs. Mabel Agyemang,

My Lady Justice Tanya Lobban-Jackson,

My Lord Justice Anthony Gruchot,

Introduction and Protocol – My Lady Chief Justice, it is with great pleasure that I rise to address your Ladyship to move the motion for the ceremonial sitting marking the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the year 2023 standing in the company of my fellow members of the legal fraternity in person, especially given that last year we were forced to adopt a hybrid arrangement with the majority of persons attending virtually and the proceedings being held outdoors.

My Lady, please permit me to recognize the presence of the many specially invited guests who have joined us today:

His Excellency the Governor Nigel Dakin and Mrs. Amanda Dakin

Premier the Honourable Washington Misick and Mrs. Delthia Misick

President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Justice Adrian Saunders and Mrs Marilyn Saunders

President of the Court of Appeal Justice Morrison OJ CD KC, Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Adderley and Justices of Appeal, viewing the proceedings through video link

Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Honourable Gordon Burton as represented by Hon. Akierra Missick

Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Eugene Otuonye KC

Acting Chief Magistrate, Her Honour Ms. Keri-Ann Kemble

Resident Magistrate, Her Honour Mrs. Oreika Selver-Gardiner

Acting Resident Magistrate, Her Honour Ms. Patricia Arana

Doyen of the Bar, Mr. Ariel Misick OBE KC

President of the Bar Council, Mr. Selvyn Hawkins

Honourable Minister of Immigration, Mr. Arlington Musgrove

Honourable Minister of Health, Mr. Shaun Malcolm

Former Chief Secretary, Mrs Cynthia Astwood

Canon Mark Kendal and Father Lynden Douglas

Deputy Attorney General, Khalila Astwood

Commissioner of Police, Mr. Trevor Botting

Deputy Superintendent of Prisons, Mr. Raymond Grant

President of the Labour Tribunal Mrs. Doreen Quelch Stubbs

King’s Counsel

Members of the Bar Council

Attorneys at law

All other specially invited guests

My Lady, in moving this motion, I wish to make some brief remarks on 2022 and what is set for the year ahead.

Her late Majesty: My Lady, 2022 marked the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her late Majesty was written into our Constitution, into our laws, our oaths, our appointments, in our courts as the symbolic role of the figure in whose name justice is carried out. Senior lawyers were appointed Queen’s Counsel having been appointed as such by Her Late Majesty on advice of the Privy Council.

Her reign was as illustrious as it was long. So long, in fact, that most members of the Bar, including My Lady were not even born when, in 1953, Her Late Majesty commenced her reign, which was, to the best of my knowledge, some 27 years before our illustrious doyen, Mr Ariel Misick OBE KC, was admitted to practice at the bar in these Islands. My Lady, although I felt a profound sense of sadness on hearing of the passing of Her Late Majesty, I also felt a profound sense of gratitude for all the Queen has done to promote the rule of law and good governance.  As public servants, we can’t help but to admire her because she exemplified what it means to serve others.

His Majesty King Charles III has been proclaimed King of the Turks and Caicos Islands and we wish him all the success for his reign.

My Chambers – My Lady, I turn to the daily business of my Chambers.

CFATF: My Lady, as chair of our Anti-money laundering Committee, I am pleased to report that the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force assessed the state of the Turks and Caicos Islands technical compliance with the Financial Action Task Force standards to combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism and weapons proliferation at its 55th Plenary Meeting at the end of 2022.  The CFATF reported that the Turks and Caicos Islands had now received largely compliant or compliant ratings on 35 of FATF’s 40 Recommendations for technical compliance. Overall, the Turks and Caicos Islands was assessed as having made significant progress in addressing the technical compliance deficiencies identified and remained compliant in others. This assessment now places the Turks and Caicos Islands amongst the leading jurisdictions assessed so far on technical compliance.  The jurisdiction continues to make progress on the five remaining FATF Recommendations and with our efforts at greater national coordination and cooperation amongst public and private sector stakeholders, it is intended that the Turks and Caicos Islands will report further meaningful progress on completing the remaining areas by November 2023. 

My Lady, since the last Opening of the Legal Year, my legislative drafting division delivered 37 Ordinances covering diverse priority areas in accordance with the Government’s legislative agenda.

Notable legislation:

1. Maritime Law Enforcement (Co-operation) Ordinance 2022 – Important legislation with the aim of formalizing the Agreement between the Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas to co-operate in combating the unsafe transport and smuggling of irregular migrants, trafficking in persons and narcotic drugs, trafficking in firearms and ammunition and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
2. Public Sector Employees Pensions Fund Ordinance 2022 – Ground breaking, provided legal framework for establishing a new pension fund for public officers.
3. Business Licensing (Fees and Penalties) (Amnesty) Ordinance 2022 – Seeking to encourage persons to settle their outstanding licence fees with the help of an amnesty on the penalties.
4. Chief Justice (Responsibilities) Ordinance 2022 – Formally provided for the responsibilities of the Chief Justice as head of the judiciary for the first time.
5. Grand Turk Enhancement and Sustainability Agency Ordinance 2022 – A seminal ordinance for the island of Grand Turk. It establishes an agency which will have oversight over and execute projects and services that will construct, upgrade, preserve and rehabilitate infrastructure throughout the island of Grand Turk so that the rich cultural heritage and history are maintained.
6. Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 – To stiffen the penalties around harbouring illegal immigrants, creating an aggravated offence for assisting illegal entry and stiffen the penalty for assisting illegal entry.
7. Merchant Shipping Ordinance 2022 – This Ordinance make provision for all matters relating to merchant shipping and fulfilling the obligations under the applicable international instruments i.e. the IMO Instruments Implementation Code (III Code).
8. Statistics Ordinance 2022 – This Ordinance establishes an independent statistical authority for the Islands and to have a harmonised statistical information system to facilitate the better planning, monitoring and evaluation of the development of the Islands.
9. Court of Appeal (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 – to improve effectiveness by empowering a Judge of the Court of Appeal to extend the time within which an appellant must give notice to the Registrar of the Supreme Court and to the opposite party or parties in an action.

As the legislative calendar neared the end of the year, the Turks and Caicos Islands saw a significant surge in deadly and violent gun crime linked to region organized crime.  The explosion of gun violence and regional organized crime threatened our sense of well-being, and posed a serious threat to the social and economic development of the Islands.  specific pieces of legislation designed to urgently address 9 key issues identified by the RTCIPF.  12 Bills were passed in the House in November, designed to:

• Stiffen penalties for gun related crimes
• Strengthen police powers and provide additional tools to gather intelligence, investigate, stop and search, detain, and break up criminal activities connected with gangs and the use of firearms; and
• Protect law enforcement and other front line officers, witnesses and those who fight hardened criminals on the front lines.

7. Interception of Communications Ordinance 2022 – This Ordinance was part of the crime fighting suite of legislation for the Islands. Among its goals is to provide a single legal framework for the use by law enforcement and intelligence agencies of investigatory powers to obtain communications and communications data.
8. Anti-Gang Ordinance 2022 – This Ordinance was part of the crime fighting suite of legislation for the Islands. Among its goals-the protection of the public and the suppression of gang membership and activities in the Islands.

In so far as subsidiary legislation is concerned, around 96 legal notices have been published since my last address covering a vast breadth of subject areas. Notable subsidiary legislation:

1. Restorative Justice Rules 2022
2. Legal Aid (Early Criminal and Civil Assistance) (Amendment) Rules 2022
3. Legal Aid (Amendment) Rules 2022
4. Revised Edition of the Laws 2021 Commencement Order 2022

My Commercial division produced 146 agreements (including development agreements, goods and services agreements, leases, licences, MoUs and other documents and 313 legal opinions.

The work of my Civil division was dominated by challenges in the area of immigration, asylum and status claims.  It is anticipated that these matters will continue in the year ahead.

My International division’s most significant strand of activity was working with the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions and the FCDO to advise and support HE the Governor and relevant public sector stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of sanctions against a number of rogue states and actors under our sanctions regime. 

The breadth and depth of the sanctions promulgated against Russia in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine in February is unprecedented. Members of the profession are now well acquainted with how complex this area of the law can be.

Nonetheless, the Turks and Caicos Islands is more than doing its part to ensure compliance with sanctions as they come into force and evolve. The sanctions cover a wide swathe: from finance to trade to immigration to import restrictions.

Staff: My Lady since my last report, Ms. Candice Rochester, Ms. Shenda Murray and Mr. Herbert Dakasi each took up appointments as Senior Crown Counsel and just this week Ms. Tamika Simms Williams was appointed Crown Counsel. We welcome their arrival and the contributions they made during the course of the year.  We also saw the departures of Senior Crown Counsel Libby Charlton and Shenda Murray.  Although we are sorry to see them go we thank them for their service and wish them well in their future endeavours.

Judiciary: My Lady, respect for the rule of law is the key principle in fostering a just and fair society. The work that you are leading to foster reforms across the justice delivery system are prolific.  The presence of members of the executive and legislative branches today joining with the members of the bar to show strong support for the work of the judiciary and join in collective prayer are testaments to our commitment to working closely with and ensuring the viability of our judicial administration throughout the islands. We acknowledge with profound appreciation the work of the Judiciary under your leadership and your collective drive to provide access to quality justice. This work requires our stronger collaboration as stakeholders in the delivery of justice in these islands.  In this vein, I wish to publicly especially recognize and thank not only the judiciary but all of the members of the Criminal Justice Stakeholders’ Group including the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police, the Prison service, the Social Development Department and the Bar, for our collective efforts to improve the administration of justice in these islands.

My Lady, in closing we acknowledge the departure of Mr. Justice Shiraz Aziz and Renee McLean former Registrar of the Supreme Court and thank them for their service to the judiciary and the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

My Lady, as law officers, we stand in full support of the work of the judiciary and wish you, and the entire judiciary a prosperous and productive New Year.

CONCLUSION

My Lady, in conclusion, it has been yet another full year and undoubtedly challenges lie ahead for the forthcoming one. We are ready to face those challenges.

My Lady, it remains for me to formally move for the Opening of the Legal Year 2023.

May it please the Court.

Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles, OBE KC

Hon. Attorney General

4^th January 2023

It is my pleasure to greet each of you in your respective roles and to express my sincere thanks to the CPA UK, its Executive Committee and to His Honour Speaker Gordon Burton of the House of Assembly of the Turks and Caicos Islands for affording me the opportunity to address this conference along with my impressive colleague.

The Oxford Dictionary online defines security as the state of being free from danger or threat. National security is defined as the safety of a nation against threats such as terrorism, war or espionage. However, traditional definitions of security have been expanded to address a wide range of complex threats faced by nations. Segun Osisanya opined that concepts of security have been used by people and governments “…to entice and whip up patronage for many political projects both at the state and international levels of politicking. Hence, Paul D. Williams argued that “security is therefore a powerful political tool in claiming attention for priority items in the competition for government attention””.¹

Samuel Makinda’s definition of security as “the preservation of the norms, rules, institutions and values of society” was cited as useful², as well as his argument that “all the institutions, principles and structures associated with society, including its people are to be protected from “military and non-military threats”.³ In that context, “the term “preservation”, was seen as an important component of this definition, because it presupposes conscious, deliberate and definite steps and actions.

National security has been described as the ability of a state to cater for the protection and defence of its citizenry. The global interconnection and interdependence among states that the world has experienced and continues to experience since the end of the cold war, makes it necessary for states to cooperate more and work together.⁴

Osisanya argues that “one of the major challenges that the field of global security has to contend with is the concept of security complex,⁵ “a situation in which the security concerns of states are deeply interconnected to the point that one state’s security needs cannot be realistically considered without taking into consideration the security needs of the other states”⁶.

On this basis, it can be seen that there are many reasons for greater “collaboration, cooperation and synergy between national and global security apparatus and mechanisms”.⁷ As highlighted by His Honour the Speaker Hoyle this morning.

Osisanya pointed out that “With the advocacy of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) human security elements have acquired a wider dimension, for they go beyond military protection and engage threats to human dignity. Accordingly, it has become necessary for states to make conscious efforts towards building links with other states and to consciously engage in global security initiatives. OCHA’s expanded definition of security calls for a wide range of security areas:

1. Economic: creation of employment and measures against
2. Food: measures against hunger and
3. Health: measures against disease, unsafe food, malnutrition and lack of access to basic health care.
4. Environmental: measures against environmental degradation, resource depletion, natural disasters and
5. Personal: measures against physical violence, crime, terrorism, domestic violence and child labour.
6. Community: measures against inter-ethnic, religious and other identity tensions.
7. Political: measures against political repression and human rights abuses.”

It must be acknowledged however that the capacity of some states to deal with some of these critical issues, affecting security, is grossly lacking and underdeveloped. Small and subordinate nations grapple with the realities of their small physical size and geographic vulnerabilities, manpower shortages, lack of funding, lack of training, lack of intelligence apparatus, national defense and public security deficits.

As Shridath Ramphal argued, “it is … imperative that the international system be so organised that these states are enabled not only to exist, but to prosper and themselves to contribute to international harmony. In the pursuit of that goal of enhanced international co-operation there surely must be progress towards strengthening the global system of collective security”.⁸

Such realties call for nations to develop and enhance national, sub- regional, regional, multilateral and global mechanisms to facilitate effective cooperation and collaboration to address security challenges.

In my own country, a recent significant surge in violent and gun crime linked to organized crime led to the development of stronger collaboration and cooperation with regional nations, including the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. Convinced that regional organized crime poses a serious threat to the social and economic development of our respective countries and that its prevention requires cooperation between regional jurisdictions, we strengthened our intelligence sharing with neighboring countries and with the approval and support of the United Kingdom, entered into a policing cooperation agreement with the Commonwealth of the Bahamas designed to effectively build local policing capacity.

As a result of globalization, people from different parts of the world crisscross between geographical boundaries. As the Covid 19 pandemic demonstrated, as much as this has brought economic prosperity, it is also replete with challenges, particularly in regard to the spread of communicable diseases, crime and terrorism. The Covid-19 pandemic dominated the lives and livelihood of persons living in the Turks and Caicos Islands for much of 2020.

Legislation to secure the nation and the public, utterly changed our lives, interfering with our rights to liberty, freedom of movement, assembly and association to name just a few. Across the Turks and Caicos Islands people had to adapt to a new norm of having to remain at home for extended periods of time, work from home and halt their ability to associate, all to contain and control the spread of the virus.

Balancing those restrictions with legal rights and obligations, legislation was made to ensure that the administration of justice did not grind to a halt as a result of the border closing, lockdown, curfew and social distancing measures imposed to contain and control the virus. Consequently, significant efforts were made, through legislation, to ensure timely access to justice for all members of the public, proportionate use of powers and fairness, while at the same time ensuring security.

Such extraordinary legislative actions could not have been taken without the strong collaboration and cooperation between the branches of Government and key stakeholders; including through legislative scrutiny of Emergency Powers Regulations to impose restrictions but also to enable Court Proceedings to continue, an amendment to the Jury Ordinance to enable augmented procedures for the conduct of jury trials, and the ground breaking Court Live Link (Remote Participation) Ordinance to allow for remote participation in proceedings before all courts and tribunals in the Islands in both civil and criminal matters. In moving these initiatives through, stakeholders had to be innovative, consultative and collaborative. Despite the very fraught nature of some of our early exchanges and a legal challenge that reached the Privy Council, with the strong collaboration amongst the judicial administration, the legal fraternity, the Cabinet and the House of Assembly, we got there. The same was the case with 12 pieces of national security based legislation just passed through our House last month, including Interception of Communications legislation.

Aside from spill outs resulting from deliberate human activities, another area of concern is the consequence of internal conflicts, which include refugee problems and which transcend geographical contiguity. Environmental and climate change issues are other areas that call for more cooperation among states, especially when dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake or a tsunami.⁹

The management of the security challenges surrounding these issues and other issues calls for the “development of a moral consciousness that can only be reinforced by cooperation and collaboration at the international level.”¹⁰

Louis Beres’ observation over 40 years ago that “world leaders continue to act as if security of their respective states is based upon national military power”¹¹ remains valid even today. His advice that states need to embrace a new spirit of oneness is crucial for all. There is, therefore, an urgent need to re-evaluate Beres’ argument that states “continue to misunderstand that their only safe course is one in which the well-being and security of each is determined from the standpoint of what is best for the system as a whole”.¹²

The global community stands to benefit from greater intra-states collaboration and cooperation, for greater interaction will help build trust and confidence. National and regional security breakdowns are a global security problem. Therefore, it is in the interest of all that no national security challenge be allowed to escalate into a global problem.¹³

In the drafting and scrutiny of security legislation, care must be taken to avoid unnecessary interference with human rights by over- extending powers relating to certain offences and criminalising behaviour that does not, in and of itself, pose a threat to national security. Such legislation must include safeguards that allow for transparency and the effective independent reviews of their implementation. Fundamental principles of equal justice, respect for human rights must be balanced with genuine security concerns.

Impacts on the fundamental rights to liberty, security, the right to a private and family life, the protection of legal privilege principles, legitimate protest or campaigning activities, protection of journalistic sources, the rights to freedom of expression and association and a fair trial should be strictly necessary and proportionate and must not present an impediment to access to justice and the rule of law, especially as it relates to vulnerable communities.

Thoughtful consideration must be given to how such security legislation will affect whistle-blowers, protesters and journalists who are engaged in activities which are part of a healthy functioning democratic system.

As a former Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago affirmed in 2012, “Crime security and safety is one of the major challenges facing our countries today. This is a multifaceted, transnational pandemic requiring collective effort, we must be our brother’s keeper; no one country can do it alone, and indeed I take inspiration from my country’s own motto ‘Together We Aspire, Together we Achieve’”¹⁴.

It is against this backdrop of the need for effective security legislation to address the serious security challenges faced by nations across the Commonwealth, we can affirmatively receive Jon Davie’s welcome message to embrace the opportunity presented by CPA UK in this conference to enhance the capacity of our respective parliaments to more effectively scrutinize and thereby improve such security legislation. Having seen the programme for the next few days, it’s clear that we are in for a stimulating and informative experience.

Thank you for your attention.

 

¹ Williams, Paul D. ed. Security Studies: An Introduction, Routledge, UK, 2008. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/national-security-versus-global-security

² Makinda, Samuel M. Sovereignty and Global Security, Security Dialogue, 1998, Sage Publications, Vol. 29(3) 29: 281-292.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Segun Osisanya, United Nations Office, Geneva, UN Chronicles, https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/national- security-versus-global-security.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ McSweeney, Bill. Security, Identity and Interests: A Sociology of International Relations, Cambridge University Press, 1999.

⁸ From the Foreword by Commonwealth, Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal in the publication, “Vulnerability: Small States in a Global Society: Report of a Commonwealth Consultative Group”, 1985, 191.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Beres, Louis Rene. Terrorism and Global Security: The Nuclear Threat, Westview Press Inc., 1979.

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Ibid.

¹⁴Trinidad’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, at the 6th Sixth Summit of the Americas, April 14, 2012 published in an article Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, Professor of Political Science, Provost and Senior Vice President York College, The City University of New York, at the 15th Western Hemisphere Security Conference, National Defense University, May 21-22, 2012--Washington, D.C.