Secretariat Set Up to Back Jamaica's Constitutional Reform Committee

A new Secretariat, run out of the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, has been put in place to give technical guidance and operational support to the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC).

Its staff is being pulled from within the Ministry and will include the Permanent Secretary, the Director of Legal Reform, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the Senior Constitutional Reform Officer. They will be joined by officers seconded from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and the Attorney General's Chambers, with steno writers supplied by the Office of the Services Commission (OSC).

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, recently unveiled the membership of the CRC, the body that is to help shepherd Jamaica through its transition to a Republic. The Committee is chaired by Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Marlene Malahoo Forte, with Ambassador Rocky Meade serving as co-chair.

Rounding out the membership are Attorney General, Dr. Derrick McKoy; Senate President, Tom Tavares Finson; Government Senator, Ransford Braham; Opposition Senator, Donna Scott Mottley; Member of Parliament for St. Andrew Western, Anthony Hylton; international constitutional law authority, Professor Richard Albert; local constitutional specialist, Dr. Lloyd Barnett; consultant counsel and nominee of the Opposition Leader, Hugh Small; faith-based community representative, Dr. David Henry; civil society representative, Dr. Nadeen Spence; Chair of the National Committee on Reparations, Lalieta Davis Mattis; and youth advisor, Sujae Boswell. Christopher Harper has been named the Committee's liaison officer.

Addressing the House of Representatives on March 28, Minister Malahoo Forte said the Committee's role is to offer expert guidance and oversight to the Government and people of Jamaica through the reform process. She pointed out that the body is also tasked with carrying forward the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional and Electoral Reform where agreement still holds, and brokering compromise in areas where consensus has weakened or never existed.

"The Committee is required to assess how the passage of time has impacted the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional and Electoral Reform; the recommendations that are contained in the final report, which was submitted to and approved by the Parliament," she pointed out.

The Minister added that the CRC will recommend any fresh thinking that should be factored in based on national, regional and international developments since the original report, along with any updates needed to make the recommendations workable today.

She said the Committee will also examine the proposals around setting up the Office of the President of the Republic of Jamaica, advising on the shape of the presidency, the qualifications and term of the president, and the legislative, executive or ceremonial functions the president should hold as head of State.

"The committee is required to help guide the constitutional reform process throughout all phases of the work including during the referendum process… to culminate in the crafting of a modern, new constitution of Jamaica, which reflects an appreciation and understanding of our cultural heritage, our governance challenges and development aspirations, and which embodies the will of the people of Jamaica," Minister Malahoo Forte added.

The Committee is set to convene on Wednesday (March 29).