Legal Report by the Hon. Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE QC on the ceremonial sitting to mark the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the Year 2022
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CHAMBERS
Legal Report by the Hon. Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE QC on the ceremonial sitting to mark the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the Year 2022
May it please you my Lady Chief Justice Mrs. Mabel Agyemang,
My Lord Mr. Justice Shiraz Aziz,
My Lady Ms. Justice Tanya Lobban-Jackson,
My Lord Mr. Justice Carlos Simons OBE QC,
Introduction and Protocol – At your invitation, My Lady Chief Justice, I rise to move the motion for the ceremonial sitting marking the Opening of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the year 2022.
My Lady with your leave, I wish to acknowledge the presence of each of our specially invited guests who have chosen to join us either virtually or in person, despite the challenges of these extraordinary times.
His Excellency the Governor Mr. Nigel Dakin CMG
Her Excellency the Deputy Governor Mrs. Anya Williams MBE
Honourable Premier Mr. Charles Washington Misick OBE
Honourable Cabinet Ministers
Honourable Speaker of the House of Assembly Mr. Gordon Burton
Honourable Leader of the Opposition Mr. Edwin Astwood
Honourable Members of the House of Assembly
Honourable President of the Court of Appeal Mr. Justice C. Dennis Morrison OJ CD QC
Honourable Justices of the Court of Appeal Mr. Justice Humphrey Stollmeyer; Mr. Justice Stanley John; and Mr. Justice Ian Winder
His Honour the Chief Magistrate Mr. Jolyon Hatmin and their Honours Ms. Keri-Anne Kemble, and Mrs. Oreika Selver-Gardiner
Learned Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Eugene Otuonye QC
Commissioner of Police Mr. Trevor Botting
Superintendent of Prisons and Head of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Mr. David Bowden
President of the Turks and Caicos Islands Bar Council Mr. Selvyn Hawkins Jr Members of the Senior Bar and colleagues at the Public and Private Bar
Doyen of the Bar Mr. Ariel Misick QC
Registrar of the Supreme Court Ms. Renée McLean and the staff of the Judiciary
Canon Mark Kendall and Revd. Fr. Lynden Douglas
Members of the Media
My Lady, in moving this motion, I crave your indulgence to make some brief remarks on 2021, as well as the year ahead.
My Lady, we sadly note the passing of Mr. Justice Paul Harrison in February last year. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones.
Covid-19 – My Lady, although the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to dominate our lives and livelihoods in 2021, but for the spikes of the last week, as a country, we were doing rather well despite the waves of changing circumstances. Today’s hybrid ceremony is an example of how quickly we have learned to adjust to keep things moving. Many of the challenges have presented opportunities.
One valuable constant which has helped to strengthen the rule of law, is the steadfast support of the other branches of government to ensuring that the work of the judicial branch carries on in the interest of justice. I have been able to shepherd important key legislation through the Cabinet and the House of Assembly with what was on most occasions unanimous support.
Despite the challenges, the Judiciary must be commended for great flexibility in adapting to the restrictions by facilitating, among other things, the electronic filing of documents and virtual hearings. At all times, the courts remained functional, even with hearings where the Judge, parties and counsel were in multiple locations, and have returned to jury trials.
Synergies – My Lady, the collaborative public sector/private sector work of the Criminal Justice Stakeholders’ Group has yielded much fruit and I look forward to further collaborations in 2022 to advance important initiatives such as a purpose built court complex on Providenciales, creating E-Judiciary and E-Justice systems to digitize and better manage work flow or the Judiciary and key Criminal Justice Stakeholders on a phased basis and the expansion of the Victim and Witness Support Unit within the ODPP. It is hoped that these initiatives and proposals will be met with the same strident support from the other branches of government and realized within the five-year strategic plan agreed between the stakeholders and endorsed by the Cabinet.
My Chambers – My Lady, I recognize that the success of my Chambers is built on the efforts of our team members. We’ve come through a year that was filled with both challenges and victories. Through their hard work, ground breaking legislation has been produced for the people of the islands, including to protect public health. Their efforts helped the Government to deliver its capital programme and its investment goals. Their hard work assisted in the realization of more secure borders, stronger financial services and law enforcement systems and advanced our national security objectives. Through their skillful litigation and negotiation, they have defended the reputation and protected the revenues of the Islands. There is a lot more work ahead of us in 2022, but My Lady, allow me to pause here and to convey my appreciation for their dedicated work over the past year.
January 2021 saw the appointment of Mrs. Khalila Astwood Tatem as only the second Turks and Caicos Islander to be appointed as Deputy Attorney General for the Turks and Caicos Islands. Principal Crown Counsel Shayone Handfield Gardiner is to be congratulated on her well-deserved promotion to head my International division and we welcomed the arrival of Crown Counsel Angy Been as part of our commercial division. We await with anticipation the arrival of other key team members in the first quarter of 2022.
We also saw the departures of Senior Crown Counsel Vanica Sobers Joseph and Crown Counsel Dominique Gardiner. Although we are sorry to see them go we wish them well in their other endeavours.
My Lady, by December 2021, my hard working Legislative Drafting division produced 33 Ordinances and 160 pieces of subsidiary legislation. Covid-19 regulations continued to command the attention of the Cabinet amounting to 27% or 44 of the 160 legal notices made by HE the Governor.
Notable new legislation in 2021 included:
- amendments to our Criminal Procedure Ordinance and Civil Procedure Ordinance to insert enabling provisions which empowered the Hon. Chief Justice to introduce rules for court-connected mediation in selected cases;
- an expansion of the Hon Chief Justice’s rule making power in the Supreme Court ordinance to reform the law around legal aid in three areas and to allow for Rules to be made.
- Limitation of Actions Ordinance 2021 – a ground breaking Ordinance that now provides the legal framework for the limitation of actions in the Islands.
- Beach and Coastal Vending Ordinance 2021 – another ground breaking Ordinance to provide for regulation of beach vending activities and to provide a monitoring and enforcement mechanism to ensure safety and protection on beaches and coastal areas of the Islands.
- Turks and Caicos Islander Status (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 – to enable to commencement of a process for the consideration and clearing of the backlog of applications for TCIslander status.
- Summary Offences (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 – to introduce stiffer penalties for antisocial behaviour crimes, such as noise nuisance, verbal abuse, threatening behavior;
- Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 – to introduce stiffer penalties for the offences of assaulting a police officer and common assault.
Notable subsidiary legislation:
- Proclamation of General Elections – allowed for a very important democratic process to take place in the midst of a pandemic
- Supreme Court (Appointment of Queen’s Counsel) Rules 2021 – a significant advancement for transparency and formality in the appointment of Queen’s Counsel in the Islands
- Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution (Amendment) Order 2021 – a ground breaking Order to give effect to a Constitutional amendment allowing for an eighth Minister.
In 2021, through the leadership of my International division 14 amendment Ordinances, Regulations and Codes were made to address technical deficiencies as recommended by the CFATF. Other amendments will be considered by March of this year to place the Islands in a positive position for CFATF re-ratings later in the year.
The International division worked on two (2) Extradition Requests and seven (7) Mutual Legal Assistance Requests or Supplemental Requests to assist Law Enforcement Agencies locally. The division also completed five (5) MOUs on behalf of LEAs, and the Gaming Control Commission. Notable were the recently signed Shiprider Agreement and MOU between the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas on Maritime Law Enforcement and a Search and Rescue MOU between the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and the United States Coast Guard.
The division has also been advising on and preparing for a full International Maritime Organisation (IMO) audit. The audit will cover a wide spectrum of areas, including safety at sea and the prevention of pollution from ships.
My Commercial division had another busy year producing or reviewing some 331 agreements, licenses, and other documents. Of particular importance was the Oxygen Generation System contract needed in both hospitals in support of the Covid-19 measures and the variation to the Grand Turk Cruise ship development agreement to assist in the restart of the cruise industry on Grand Turk.
My small Civil litigation division remained busy with an increase in serious litigation matters and in this regard there were 69 litigation matters in total. Of the 69 litigation matters, 45 or 65% remain ongoing with 24 or 35% having been completed or settled. Litigation on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Immigration dominated at 23% and 25% respectively. In the year ahead, important ongoing litigation surrounding the correct interpretation of immigration related rights will need to be confronted as well as litigation around the correct interpretation of tax revenue.
CONCLUSION
My Lady, in conclusion, my prayer for you, all the Judges and Magistrates, the Judicial staff, fellow members of the legal profession and those in attendance this morning is for God to bless us with a safe, prosperous and productive New Year.
I now formally move the motion for the opening of the Turks and Caicos Islands Supreme Court for the year 2022.
May it so please the Court.
Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles, OBE QC
Hon. Attorney General
4th January 2022