The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

FORMER Governor General Arthur Hanna told members of the Constitution Commission that while changes should be made to the constitution because of issues surrounding citizenship and the death penalty, the Bahamian public should understand the document before tampering with it.

“The public must understand the system or risk creating a constitution that’s nonsensical,” Mr Hanna said.

Established in 2012, the commission’s task is to review the constitution and recommend changes in advance of this year’s 40th anniversary of independence.

Mr Hanna’s comments came after former MP for Exuma, George Smith, urged the commission to recommend a number of amendments.

Mr Smith said: “I believe that the office of ‘Head of State’ should be held by a Bahamian. We should create a Republic of the Bahamas with the duties presently prescribed for the Governor-General to be carried out by a president, in addition to some added responsibilities.

The president should be elected by a parliamentary vote supported by no less than two-thirds of all the members.”

He said: “On the issue of citizenship, I am a supporter of a more modern approach to citizenship, one that has its connection to the new paradigm of national development. In this regard, the constitution must remove the prohibition which prevents Bahamian mothers from conferring citizenship to their children and I firmly believe that we should allow for those persons who were born in the Bahamas and have continuously resided in the Bahamas for 18 years or more and who have close connection and affinity to the Bahamas, to become citizens of the Bahamas upon their making application for citizenship.

“I also hold the view that there should be some recognition in our constitution to prevent discrimination on the ground of sexual preference or orientation. This will be in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“In order to dispel the anomaly that currently exists in that the Chief Justice, who is the Head of the Judiciary, can be overturned by the current Court of Appeal or the Privy Council, in my opinion, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court should be the ‘Chief among all Justices , at the pinnacle of the Judiciary.’ The Supreme Court will thereby replace the Privy Council for both criminal and civil cases.

Mr Smith added: “I believe that there should be a provision that expressly prohibits the right to bail in capital cases or serious criminal matters and similarly the issue of the death penalty should be addressed and settled with the death penalty being abolished.”

Mr Hanna reiterated Mr Smith’s stance on the death penalty, saying: “There are two things Mr Smith said that I support. One is to abolish the death penalty. All countries that have abolished the death penalty have seen a reduction in crimes.

“I also agree that women should be able to confer citizenship to their offspring.”

However, Mr Hanna said he believes the Privy Council should not be abolished. “The Privy Council is the best guarantee of justice since they are able to interpret Bahamian law. The Privy Council could reverse its decisions, unlike the other courts, and this is just another one of its strengths.”

Mr Hanna said there are ultimately only few amendments that should be made to the constitution.

“I believe the commission has a difficult job ahead of them,” he said, adding: “I don’t see hardly anything the commission could do to amend the constitution. You could amend some fundamental rights and domestic issues like woman conferring citizenship, but that’s it. Regarding the monarchy, the question is, what are you going to do after getting rid of the monarchy?”