Dear Editor,

The Government has indicated an intention to do away with the monarchy. This will require several other determinations to be made before proceeding with the required referendum to effect this change.

Firstly, we must decide what we will be replacing The King with. Will it be a ceremonial or executive president? A ceremonial president would be replacing the governor general in name only, thus missing out on the opportunity presented to effect real constitutional change.

It should also be noted that, once the executive authority of Jamaica is no longer vested in The King, section 110 of the constitution that provides that an appeal shall lie from decisions of the Court of Appeal to His Majesty in Council could no longer apply. It would, therefore, be necessary to also deal with that issue at the same time.

Our constitution provides that the Parliament of Jamaica shall consist of The King, a Senate, and a House of Representatives. Our Senate consists of 21 people appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition. The Senate, in my view, has not performed as a truly independent upper chamber as the members hold themselves accountable more to the party leader than to the people.

The original idea of the British Government in the negotiations regarding our constitution was to set up a bicameral Parliament similar to that which operated in the United Kingdom. Our Senate was to be the local version of the British House of Lords, but this has not worked because members of the House of Lords have real tenure (some for life) thus ensuring their independence. A senator in the United States Government is not only directly elected by the voters in their states but serve a term of six years before having to face the voters again.

It is suggested that our constitution be amended to allow for the direct election of senators, two from each parish, for a period of five years.

Our constitution should be amended to allow for the direct election of an executive president. The president should perform the functions originally laid out for the governor general, except that, instead of acting on the advice of the prime minister or leader of the Opposition, the president would be making nominations which would be subject to the approval of the elected Senate. Accordingly, it is the president who would nominate people for such posts as chief justice, president of the Court of Appeal, members of the Judicial Service Commission, auditor general, members of the Public Service Commission, members of the Police Service Commission, the Public Defender, and others, subject to the approval of the Senate.

To avoid a lopsided Parliament it would be useful to allow for some amount of proportional representation in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Senate would, of course, be able to vote on Bills and be able to introduce such Bills.

The Caribbean Court of Justice should replace the Privy Council as Jamaica’s final Court of Appeal.

Ordinary legislation should be enacted to allow for a fixed date for the election of the president, the Senate, and the House of Representatives every five years, with provisions to allow for elections other than on the fixed date.

The constitution should be amended to remove the provision allowing a Commonwealth citizen to be qualified for membership of the Senate and the House of Representatives and to allow any Jamaican citizen, ordinarily resident in Jamaica, to be qualified for such membership.

This opportunity for meaningful constitutional reform should not be missed. There is much to be discussed.

Lloyd Mcfarlane

Attorney at law

lloydmcfarlane1@outlook.com