CO KEY NOTE ADDRESS: WHY COLLABORAION IS REQUIREDFOR EFFECTIVE SECURITY - DELIVERED BY HONOURABLE RHONDALEE BRAITHWAITE-KNOWLES OBE KC ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

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.