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Expert Attorney to help Turks & Caicos get UK approval for Constitutional Reforms
#TurksandCaicos, October 26, 2021 – Turks and Caicos political leaders will make a more assertive attempt this time around, when Recommendations for Constitutional Reform are presented to the United Kingdom at the Joint Ministerial Council meeting in London next month.
Washington Misick, Turks and Caicos Islands Premier during a press conference said, while the effort over the past decade has enjoyed bi-partisan support, it has lacked preciseness and has not reflected the understanding of what the UK perhaps wants to see before approving changes to the 2011 Constitution which they authored.
“The Government is in the process of hiring a constitutional advisor, a professional, a high powered attorney who worked on the Cayman Islands constitution. I think it is critical that we have every aspect of the arcs properly
The United Kingdom, following a tumultuous consultation in the islands on what the new constitution should contain, handed over a fresh Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution, ahead of the country’s 2012 general election which ended direct-rule and reinstated local leadership.
The new constitution has, however, been labelled regressive and restrictive.
Repeated attempts at having the document amended – following several rounds of national Constitutional Reform public meetings – had proved a fruitless quest for both the Rufus Ewing-led PNP and Sharlene Robinson-led PDM administrations. The newest premier hopes to end that trend.
“We are in the process of hiring professional legal help to work through the constitutional, so that we get something that is properly thought out, with independent professional help. Clearly the constitution belongs to the country, it does not belong to the PDM or the PNP so that collaboration in terms of where we go with it and how we arrive at what we want, will continue in a bi partisan way,” said premier Misick.
The attorney to be hired has not yet been named.