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Thwaites says Charter language too complex
Inside Parliament
With Alicia Dunkley
Sunday, November 08, 2009
PARLIAMENT last week continued its deliberations on the new Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms which will replace Chapter III of the present constitution.
Central Kingston Member of Parliament Ronald 'Ronnie' Thwaites made his contribution to the debate, which was opened by Prime Minister Bruce Golding in mid-October.
The new charter, which has been the subject of much anxiety and debate since the 1990s, is expected to replace Chapter III of the present constitution, and is one of three major recommendations made by a 1995 Joint Select Committee.
The report, which was adopted by Parliament, also recommended that Jamaica take on a republican form of government by removing Britain as its monarch and have its own indigenous president as head of state. It also suggested that Jamaica delink from the judicial committee of the Privy Council and accept the Caribbean court as its final appellate body.
Thwaites, who signalled his support for the provision during last Tuesday's sitting, urged the legislature to consider simplifying the language of the Charter.
"We must really try to distill it in ways that is going to be understandable without distorting its meaning," the MP argued, while conceding that it would be challenging for persons in the legal profession to be able to explain principle and law in simple terms.
"Let us remember the history and context of the 1962 Constitution, which I believe has served us well, is nonetheless a very conservative document wrought in a situation of considerable societal divide.
The very language of the 1962 constitution was not intended to be familiar or to be entertained by the vast majority of our people. It is written in a way that is arcane and as a consequence it has not been adopted by the majority of our people," he said further.
In the meantime, he said while there were other areas of constitutional reform that need to be undertaken, the current ones on which consensus has been reached were critical.
"We must make sure we do not delay or place any inhibitions on that," Thwaites noted.
Notwithstanding, he urged that Parliament, upon passing the Charter, should proceed to a jointly sponsored referendum to provide what he said was a "thorough going reform and indigenisation of our constitutional instrument".
"The Jamaican people have never had our own constitution put to them. We have been asked to assume it as somebody's best efforts on our behalf," he said, while pointing out that he had no wish to gainsay the consultative efforts made prior the first enactment.
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