The Ministry of Home Affairs shares with the general public, the correspondence between the Honourable Chief Minister Victor Banks and Lord Ahmad, the UK Minister for Overseas Territories in relation to Constitutional reform.
The correspondence will assist the public in understanding how the Government of Anguilla proposes to advance the reform agenda over the coming months. The public should note that since the receipt of the Draft Order in Council on 16th October 2018, revisions have been made based on communication between both Governments. It is expected that there will be further review of the Order prior to its finalisation.
The public is asked to note:
1. The letter from the Chief Minister to the Lord Ahmad dated 29th June 2018;
2. The letter from Lord Ahmad to the Chief Minister dated 18 July 2018;
3. The letter from Chief Minister to Lord Ahmad dated 13th August 2018;
4. Letter from Lord Ahmad to the Chief Minister dated 16th October 2018.
The Ministry of Home Affairs thanks the public for its kind attention.
Cora Richardson Hodge
Honourable Minister of Home Affairs
26th October 2018
29th June,2018
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of Sate
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street,
London
Dear Lord Ahmad,
Re: Reform of Constitution of Anguilla (Schedule to the Anguilla Constitution Order 1982)
For some time, the Government and people of Anguilla have been working towards Constitutional reform. On 4th May 2017 Executive Council received the final report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee led by retired Justice Don Mitchell, QC.
The Committee presented comprehensive proposals for reform after a highly consultative process involving the general public and various stakeholder and interest groups. Various media were used to bring awareness to the process and canvas the views of the Anguillian people including public meetings, electronic media, radio appearances etc. We are therefore confident that the recommendations advanced by the Committee represent in large part the views of the various persons with whom they engaged.
Having reviewed the report of the Committee, the Government of Anguilla now proposes to engage the Government of the United Kingdom in discussions with a view to advancing the reform agenda. We propose to do this in two phases. The first phase will focus on the need for immediate amendment to some sections of the existing Constitution which will be required way in advance of the 2020 general elections. The second phase will entail comprehensive reform of the entire Constitution based mainly on the report of the Commission. It is in relation to the latter that we anticipate more detailed discussions with the United Kingdom Government.
As regards the first phase, the Government of Anguilla requests the following changes to the Constitution prior to the end of2 018:
(a) Change in nomenclature from Chief Minister to Premier;
(b) A limit of two (2) consecutive terms for the Premier;
(c) The inclusion of a clear procedure for when a Premier is incapable of continuing in office due to illness or death;
(d) Increase in the number of Ministers to a maximum of six (6);
(e) Change in nomenclature from “belonger” to “Anguillian”;
(f) Change in qualifications for elected membership from reference to BOTC to reference to Anguillian. Additionally, the qualification based on descent should be extended to grandchildren;
(g) Removal of the disqualification for ministers of religion and persons with dual nationality to seek elected membership;
(h) Change in qualification of voters to remove reference to BOTC and replace with Anguillian; and
(i) Changes to belonger status provisions to reflect the following persons
as being “Anguillian”:
i. A person born or adopted in Anguilla with an Anguillian parent or grandparent;
ii. A great-grandchild of an Anguillian who (ie. the great-grandchild) has resided in Anguilla for 5 years;
iii. A person resident in Anguilla for 15 years; which status may be withdrawn on conviction of an indictable offence;
iv. A person married to an Anguillian for a period of not less than 5 years;
which status may be withdrawn on conviction of an indictable offence;
v. The minor child of a person qualifying by residence under (c) above who has been residing in Anguilla for at least 3 years; which status may be withdrawn on conviction of an indictable offence;
vi. A person born in Anguilla who does not qualify under any of the above, but has resided in Anguilla for 10 years;
vii. A person previously granted belonger status; and
viii. A person naturalized or registered in Anguilla as a BOTC.
It is proposed that when this phase is near completion, that our respective Governments will commence discussions in relation to the second phase. I have therefore attached the report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee for your perusal of the recommendations, most (but not all) of which have been accepted by our Government.
I trust that you will appreciate the importance of Constitutional reform to the Anguillian people. A new Constitution will hopefully redefine Anguilla’s relationship with the United Kingdom in a way which reflects the aspirations of Anguillians for a more meaningful partnership based on mutual respect, understanding and confidence in our ability to uphold the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability in all spheres of government.
Please accept my gratitude for your anticipated commitment to working with our Government to see this process through to completion. I look forward to hearing from you regarding how we can move ahead without delay.
Sincerely
Victor F. Banks
Honourable Chief Minister
Our reference: MIN-12531-2018
Hon. Victor Banks
Chief Minister
P.O. Box 60
The Valley
Anguilla
West Indies
18 July 2018
Dear Victor
Thank you for your letter of 29 June, with which you forwarded the report of Anguilla’s Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee, and put forward some written proposals for the first stage in a review of Anguilla’s constitution.
I am pleased that you have been able to respond so quickly after our collective discussion of constitutional issues at the June Joint Ministerial Council. The two-stage process for review of the Anguilla constitution that you suggest seems entirely sensible.
I welcome your proposals for the first stage. The amendments you suggest look broadly acceptable. My officials have consulted Ian Hendry, the Overseas Territories Constitutional Adviser on these. Ian proposes to prepare a draft Order in Council through which we might make interim amendments to the constitution. We propose to send this to you for your government’s comments over the summer.
Your proposal that the number of Ministers be increased to a maximum of six is however, more difficult, given that section 24 of the constitution stipulates that Ministers must be appointed from among the elected members of the Legislative Assembly, and section 35(2) provides that there must be “not less than seven members [of the Legislative Assembly] elected in the manner provided by law”. If there are only seven elected members at any time, and six Ministers were appointed, there would be only one elected member as a back-bencher. While I appreciate that all would depend on how many elected members belonged to the governing political party, the disproportion between elected members and Ministers seems undesirable.
I would be grateful for more details of how you would justify this proposal and ensure that there would be adequate back-bench representation and provision for the Opposition. We will then consider the proposal further.
I note your suggestion that a second phase, entailing fuller review of the constitution based on the Committee’s report, should start towards the end of the first phase, which you envisage for the end of this year. Again, I welcome this, particularly as the Anguilla constitution has not received a full review since 1990, and am keen in principle to match the timings your government suggests for this work. I therefore suggest we firm up the process and timing for the second phase in late autumn when we can assess progress made on the first stage. Noting your comment that not all the Committee’s proposals have been endorsed by your government, I await your further views on the Committee’s proposals for this second stage. I would suggest that it may be more appropriate to address the particular proposal for an increase in the number of Ministers in the second phase of the review, in order to avoid a coincidence with preparations for the elections due in Anguilla in 2020.
I am copying this letter to Governor Tim Foy, and to Mrs Blondell Cluff CBE, your Special Adviser and London and EU Representative.
LORD (TARIQ) AHMAD OF WIMBLEDON
Minister of State for the Overseas Territories
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing
Sexual Violence in Conflict
Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief
13th August 2018
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State for the Overseas Territories
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London
Dear Lord Ahmad
Re: Reform of Constitution of Anguilla (Schedule to the Anguilla Constitution Order 1982)
Thank you for your letter of 18th July 2018 regarding the above-captioned and your expressed interest in assisting our Government to progress Constitutional reform. I appreciate the urgency of your response particularly in identifying personnel to assist in preparing the proposed amendments for our review and approval.
I note your concern with regard to the proposal that the number of Ministers be increased to a maximum of six. I wish to provide some context so that you would appreciate the rationale for the proposal. In the report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Committee, there are several recommendations for electoral reform including increasing the number of elected persons in the Anguilla House of Assembly. This is to be accomplished by the inclusion of island-wide voting (also called at-large voting) in addition to voting by district. I believe you are already familiar with this system of voting as it currently exists in other Overseas Territories, in particular the British Virgin Islands. We are currently working on these reforms which should be in effect before the end of 2018.
In keeping with these reforms, it is anticipated that during the 2020 general elections, eleven (11) persons will be elected to the Anguilla House of Assembly; seven elected from local electoral districts and four elected from the island-wide electoral district. Given this increase from seven elected members (which currently exists) to eleven elected members, it follows that there should be flexibility to increase the number of Ministers to a maximum of six without resulting in a disproportion between the number of elected members and the number of Ministers. As such, I am keen to advance this amendment in the first phase of the reform process as outlined in my letter of 29th June 2018.
I look forward to hearing further from you and to the reviewing the Draft Order in Council referenced in your letter.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sincerely
Victor F. Banks
Honourable Chief Minister
Hon. Victor Banks
Chief Minister
P.O. Box 60
The Valley
Anguilla
West Indies
16 October 2018
Dear Victor
Thank you for your letter of 18 August, in which you provided further detail on one of your proposals for amendment in the Constitution, namely that the number of Ministers be increased to a maximum of six.
My officials and Ian Hendry, the Overseas Territories Constitutional Adviser, have considered all the proposals and all are acceptable. I enclose a draft Order in Council for you and your officials to consider, and which we would propose to use as the legal basis for effecting the amendments.
You will notice that while the Order largely adopts the wording of your proposals, we have made some slight additions to your text. The substantive suggestions are that:
– In relation to the increase in the number of Ministers, we propose to add a formula to help you align the sequencing of this as the number of elected members of the House of Assembly increases. This is similar to wording in the Montserrat Constitution;
– In the provisions relating to Anguillian status, we suggest you may consider including a provision for a person born outside of Anguilla who has at least one Anguillian parent or grandparent; in line with the Commission’s suggestion. We note that without the addition, this would exclude children of Anguillians born or adopted outside of Anguilla, even though greatgrandchildren of Anguillians are considered Anguillan under the next subclause if they have resided in Anguilla for 5 years.
I look forward to receiving your considered response to the draft Order, so that we can keep up the momentum needed on its implementation.
I am copying this letter to Governor Tim Foy, and to Mrs Blondell Cluff CBE, your Special Adviser and London and EU Representative.
LORD AHMAD OF WIMBLEDON
Minister of State for the Overseas Territories, Commonwealth and the UN
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict
