Shortly after 10 p.m. on Tuesday, the House of Assembly returned from closed-door committee and passed an amended version of a bill proposed by Governor Daniel Pruce to modernise the Commission of Inquiry Act 1880 in keeping with reforms the government agreed to implement following the 2022 COI report.
However, the final version of the Virgin Islands Inquiries Bill 2024 — which passed unanimously after multiple legislators harshly criticised the original — won’t be made public until it is Gazetted after receiving the governor’s assent.
During the public portion of the debate last week, two legislators used the word “dictatorship” to criticise parts of the draft bill proposed by Mr. Pruce.
Deputy governor
But this week acting Governor David Archer Jr. defended Mr. Pruce’s draft bill.
“Inquiries are an important mechanism for holding governments and public bodies to account for their conduct, and the bill which was laid in the House of Assembly sought to modernise the legislation and align it with international standards,” Mr. Archer told the Beacon in a Wednesday email.
“Notwithstanding the above, we hold any additional and formal comments on the important bill until a copy of the bill passed in the House of Assembly is received and reviewed by the office.”
Mr. Archer is acting as governor through Aug. 10 in Mr. Pruce’s absence from the territory,
Public debate
During the public debate on the bill on July 16, Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton said that the system created by the proposed bill — which, like the existing legislation, would give the governor exclusive authority to call an inquiry — would be “as close as you can get to dictatorship.”
On the government side of the aisle, Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer spoke similarly.
“We are proud to say we are a modern democracy, but, Madam Speaker, when you read through this bill it’s more like a dictatorship bill,” he said. “And that is something that we must do some surgery on as we go through the committee stage.”
Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley, who introduced the bill on July 9 on behalf of the governor, used softer language to deliver a similar message during the July 16 debate.
“We just have to ensure that when we pass a bill, we pass a bill that reflects [the territory’s] constitutional development; that reflects the fact that we have ministers of government who are assuming responsibility or majority of the aspects of governance in this territory — and that we have a bill that does not smack of the colonialism of 1880,” he said.
Planned amendments
In a WhatsApp group chat, Dr. Wheatley further explained the bill the day after the public debate.
“[The bill] was a recommendation of the COI, which, if we didn’t accept, our Constitution would have been suspended,” he wrote.
He added at the time that lawmakers planned to amend the bill in the committee stage.
“Important thing is we are improving it,” he wrote. “By the time it is passed, it will be our bill.”
After the public debate on July 16, lawmakers went into closed-door committee to debate the bill in private.
But this week, they returned from committee on Tuesday night and passed the amended bill without explaining how they had amended it or otherwise discussing it.
Old law reviewed
The bill is based in part on a review of the 1880 act carried out pursuant to recommendations in the 2022 COI report.
Completed by attorney Valera Dlamini in November 2022, the review recommended enacting new legislation to modernise and simplify the language of the 1880 act.
Ms. Dlamani also called for the “rules of natural justice and the rule of law” to be “built into the act.”
Her report added, “Subsidiary legislation should be promulgated, as a bulk of the work of a commission is procedural and would therefore rely heavily on the provisions in subsidiary legislation.”
Ms. Dlamini also recommended that the law include definitions for terms like “public officer,” “misconduct” and “conduct.” Definitions for these terms, among others, were included in the initial draft of the proposed bill.
‘Playing with democracy’
On July 16, HOA members debated the bill for about five hours before going into a closed-door committee session.
Speaker of the House Corine George-Massicote imposed time limits for each member, allotting 40 minutes to the opposition leader and 25 minutes for other members.
Mr. Skelton described the bill as “playing with democracy.”
“To me, you had an anomaly in a system which was the last COI, where the witnesses and other people tried to test the extent of the 1880 act,” he said. “And now you’re trying to correct it here, but you’re overcorrecting. … It cannot be allowed to happen.”
Among other criticisms, Mr. Skelton complained at the time that the bill would give the governor the authority to appoint inquiry commissioners without consulting HOA members.
He also took issue with what he described as wide-ranging powers that would be granted to a COI to regulate its own procedures.
“Now I know in a lot of laws, we say the committee will regulate its own proceedings,” he said. “And that means something simple: That means, you know, the time we have meetings and who shall be there, and some of that. But this is extensive. And should it be here, or it should be in the regulations?”
Walwyn’s view
Opposition member Myron Walwyn said during the July 16 debate that it’s time to modernise the 1880 act, but he followed suit in criticising the proposed bill.
Among other concerns, Mr. Walwyn said he thinks the premier should have the power to call an inquiry.
He also argued that Dr. Wheatley should have been more forceful in advocating for such a change during the Tuesday debate.
“He did a very good job except for asking for what he wanted,” Mr. Walwyn said. “[He] went around the bush basically, and, of course, expecting the support of the opposition and other members to assist him in asking for him as the premier to be able to bring an inquiry. And I support him with that.”
Integrity law
At the end of the sitting on Tuesday, the premier also introduced the Integrity in Public Life Amendment Bill 2024.
It has not yet been made public, but he said he would explain its provisions at a later sitting. The HOA is meeting again today.
