At least three members of the Opposition in the House of Assembly have voiced their opinion on the controversial Bribery Bill, which was scheduled to have its first and second readings in the House of Assembly on Tuesday 13th June, 2023.
The three Parliamentarians – Mrs. Shellya Rogers-Webster, Mr. Cardigan Connor, and Mr. Kyle Hodge expressed their opinion on the Parliamentary Opposition weekly radio programme “Just the Facts” which aired on Radio Anguilla on Monday 12th June, 2023. They stressed that there needs to be more consultation with the public on the implications of the Bill, noting that it can have an adverse impact on regular residents who might not be aware that their innocent business transactions can indeed prove to be a crime.
“Whereas in the past only public officials were governed by specific orders in the Bribery Act, now this new Bribery Act will cover everyone. It comes with a suite of other legislation that is intended to make sure that Anguilla is compliant with international financial standards,” Mrs. Rogers-Webster stated. “I would like to commend the Financial Services Commission and the other agencies for working on this legislation, and for presenting it in the consultation meeting in the House on Monday, 5th June.”
“However, the reality is that this Bribery Act has far reaching consequences for the average citizen,” she said. “Certain traditional habits that were once deemed as general business practices can now be considered as bribery.”
“We, as Parliamentarians,” she continued, “have a responsibility to make sure that the people of our communities understand that this new Act would have a number of implications for our citizens.”
Mrs. Rogers-Webster drew an illustration that was based on Anguilla’s chief industry, tourism. She cited that, for example, say a particular member of staff at a hotel would solicit jobs for a specific taxi driver, and that taxi driver rewards him or her with some form of commission, or tip, under this legislation that could be considered as bribery.
“It is therefore important,” she said, “for enough public consultation to take place on what would constitute bribery. There are certain things in our society that can be viewed as unethical, but not necessarily criminal. So now we must make sure our people know through public consultation, what laws are being implemented and what laws will affect them.”
Mrs. Rogers-Webster said that she did encourage the Committee, which held the one and only public consultation at the House of Assembly on June 5th, to go out and meet the public in their respective constituencies, and maybe even sector by sector, so that people can be more educated on what the laws on bribery would entail.
Both Mr. Connor and Mr. Hodge were in agreement with Mrs. Rogers-Webster’s view on more consultation.
“There was only one consultation, and that was at the House of Assembly. It is good to consult with the people there. But it is also important that the committee goes out to the people and inform them,” Mr. Connor said. “When it is election time, we go out ‘canvassing’ in the neighbourhoods seeking the public’s votes. In the same manner, our people should be educated on this Bill. We can’t just ask the people to come to us. We must go out and inform them.”
Mr. Hodge explained: “Before a document is made law, it becomes policy. It is my belief that it’s at the policy stage that most of the consultation should take place. Whether it is indoors or public, consultations should be held and recorded. There should be minutes for these consultation sessions to indicate that the public was involved.”
“For a serious piece of legislation like this Bribery Act, I would hope that even before it was approved by Executive Council to come to the House, the Committee should meet the public and the various groups in the society and discuss its implications in order to get the public’s input from early,” he opined. “After it is passed through Executive Council as a policy, [a series of] public consultation[s] must be held on it…..The more consultations, the better.”
