![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/constitution-commission.jpg\" "\\"constitution-commission\\"")
Nassau, The Bahamas – There is no compelling case for any complete overhaul of the Bahamas\u2019 system of government and the principles that undergird it, declared Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett.<\/p>\nNassau, The Bahamas – There is no compelling case for any complete overhaul of the Bahamas\u2019 system of government and the principles that undergird it, declared Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett.<\/p>\n
\u201cOurs is a very old parliamentary democracy which has worked well,\u201d he told Thursday\u2019s session of the Constitution Reform Commission.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he conceded, \u201cthere is no doubt that important changes can and should be made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of the Commission are Carl Bethel, Rubie Nottage, Mark Wilson, Lester Mortimer, Tara Cooper-Burnside, Michael Stevenson, Professor Dr. Lydia Saunders, Michael Albury, Chandra Sands, Brandis Duncanson, Carla Brown-Roker, Lauren Klein.<\/p>\n
Former permanent secretary Thelma Beneby is the secretary to the Commission. She will be assisted by Annie Lloyd, Darron Henfield, Sonobia Smith, and Veronica Frazer.<\/p>\n
In a private session with the Commission, Sir Michael discussed specific proposals for amendments to the Constitution.<\/p>\n
The Commission has been mandated to present its recommendations for constitutional reform no later than March 31, 2013.<\/p>\n
The Constitution which governs The Bahamas has been unchanged since coming into effect in 1973. Many of its provisions were contained by the pre-Independence constitutions.<\/p>\n
Basic parliamentary democracy has been The Bahamas\u2019 system of government for hundreds of years, Sir Michael pointed out.<\/p>\n
While there have been no significant constitutional crisis in The Bahamas since Independence, there were two previous attempts at amending the constitution \u2013 in 1981 and 2002.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn carrying out its work,\u201d said Sir Michel, \u201cI suggest that the Commission should be guided by a few overarching principles.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo these provisions strengthen our democracy, protect our citizens from abuse, and comply with our obligations as a responsible member of the international community?\u201d<\/p>\n
He specifically mentioned the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.<\/p>\n
The Chief Justice said he was \u201cparticularly pleased\u201d there are a number of young persons on the Constitution Reform Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were not raised in the colonial era,\u201d he said, \u201cand therefore bring with you a perspective not coloured by an affectionate longing to retain vestiges of the colonial past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge you also not to be afraid to be critical of some of the decisions of the founding fathers when they made the 1973 Constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must confess that they made some decisions which still seem inexplicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
As many of the provisions of the Constitution cannot be amended without public approval in a referendum, he said, \u201cyou must bear in mind that any proposal for change must be able to receive wide spread public support.<\/p>\n
\u201cChange does not come easy. It is often disruptive and unsettling. The Commission cannot ignore that reality in making its recommendations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it is an argument for caution, it is not an argument for inertia.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Gladstone Thurston
\nBahamas Information Services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chief Justice Michael Barnett said there is no compelling case for a complete overhaul of the Bahamas\u2019 government system, although “important changes can and should be made.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-26586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}