The Regional Law Revision Centre in Anguilla is continuing to expand its training services in the Caribbean region and further afield. Just a week ago it concluded a Consolidation of Laws Training Programme held on March 21 and 22.
The six participants were Rosalie Emmons-Lewis, Richard Roberts, Roger Villafana and ShivananNarinesingh from Trinidad and Tobago and Carlene Jones-Williams and Crystal Powell from Jamaica. They were presented with certificates by Governor Alistair Harrison.
Ms Yoland Dash, Legislative Publisher and Trainer, speaking at the closing ceremony, said that since 2009 the Centre had successfully conducted the training programme. “We have trained over 38 participants in 12 countries,” she reported. “On this occasion, we are honoured to have participants from the Law Revision Commission of Trinidad and Tobago and the Law Revision Unit of Jamaica with us.
“This programme focuses on the consolidation process and the implementation of techniques that contribute to the production of a cost-effective high quality publication of the revised laws in every country…The programme is the only one of its kind in the region and provides an in-depth knowledge of the process.”
The Attorney General, James Wood, said: “We are very proud of the work that is carried on here at the Centre. It started off serving Anguilla, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands, but has been gradually increasing in its scope of work – taking on more recently work from Belize, and we are very pleased to have the British Virgin Islands join us as a member of the Centre.
“We are also extremely pleased by more recent developments in agreements with the Commonwealth Secretariat and with CARICOM which have enabled us to further broaden the scope of the work that we can provide. One of our directors will be in South Africa where he hopes to be able to further explain the services of the Centre to an even wider audience with the possibility that some countries within the African region also utilising our services. It is all extremely positive and reflects a gradual growth of the Centre in relation to work load, staff and even office practice.”
Mr. Wood said the Centre had been doing its best to be able provide its services to the region including the consolidation of laws programme. He was pleased that the participants had come to Anguilla for the training. “The Centre is a not-for-profit company based in Anguilla but continues to serve the region and provides a range of services – from basic publishing to assisting in the provision or setting up of websites showing how local legislation can be advertised online to a full law revision package,” he added. “We hope that we will continue to be in a position to serve the region as best we can in the future.”
Governor Harrison said it was wonderful to see how the Centre had expanded and developed over the years he had been in Anguilla. “It is very definitely a Regional Centre and increasingly a World Centre for the very important job of revision and consolidation of laws,” he stated. “It is very important for lawyers and also for laymen like me to find our way around the maze of laws that have been passed – and to be able to understand them and use them. That has been a very significant thing for the region and for Anguilla.”
Ms. Crystal Powell, one of the two participants from Jamaica, spoke on behalf of her colleagues. “We would like to express our heartfelt thanks for welcoming us to your country and for allowing us to participate in this training,” she said in part. “It has been extremely informative. Not only have we been able to learn from your consolidation process, but we have been able to learn about the best practices from across our different territories. We have been able to compare our offices and we are going home with a wealth of knowledge – not only in consolidating the laws, but in law revision in general.”
The Regional Law Revision Centre Inc. was established in 2007 in Anguilla as a non-profit organisation as a result of the collaborative efforts of Anguilla, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The aim of its establishment was to maintain regular publication of accurate and accessible laws for the three Overseas Territories and other Caribbean States. The Falkland Islands have also participated in the programme in Anguilla.
