The United Kingdom’s Attorney General, the Rt. Hon. Baroness Patricia Scotland, has made it clear to Anguilla and the other Overseas Territories that matters of good governance, public accountability and law and order are being followed closely in London. She was at the time addressing the opening session of the 18th Annual Conference of Attorneys General hosted this week by Anguilla at the Malliouhana Hotel & Spa Conference Centre at Meads Bay.

Baroness Patricia Scotland addressing delegates

"We are all followed very closely in what we do in our territories so, for example, the events in TCI (Turks and Caicos Islands) and the consequence and the conclusions that come therefrom are going to be very important,” she said. “We are all waiting the final report of the Commission of Inquiry to see what [the] implications for the islands might be, but the spotlight has not only been on TCI. The territories as a whole have also been the focus of much attention in the United Kingdom in the last 12 months or so and some of it stemming from the recent G20 Summit in London and the attention that has been given to offshore financial centres [with] much of it driven by the United Kingdom Parliament. But the Public Accounts and Foreign Affairs Committees have published detailed reports on the territories in both Houses of Parliament and they continue to take a very close interest in the affairs of the territories.”

The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Overseas Territories went on: “There are common threads to much of this scrutiny which include ensuring the highest standards of good governance and public accountability in all territories, ensuring that we have robust financial service regulations in place that meet international standards and requirements and the rights of individuals and the law are upheld in each of the territories. All these issues are of course important but among them, and for all of us here, the maintenance of law and order ranks high as a priority to ensure the future prosperity and stability of the territories.”

Baroness Scotland pointed out that she attached “great importance to having an effective criminal justice system in place in the territories to underpin the successful delivery of law and order.” She emphasised that “those involved in the criminal justice system must all work very closely together to protect the security of the territories, whether in the law enforcement agencies, the Government, including Ministers’ Councils and officials, the legal profession or members of the public.”

She told the delegates that among the agenda items, criminal justice would feature prominently in the three-day discussions (May 26-28). She noted that the conference and the role of the Attorneys General go way beyond criminal justice issues. As a consequence the other conference matters included a wide-range of issues such as constitutional review, financial regulation, human rights and legal information and training.

“It is not down to Attorneys General Chambers and the local territories Governments to advance work in these areas,” the Baroness observed. “It is equally important that the United Kingdom supports the territories if they are to continue to manage the challenges ahead. I can assure you that the United Kingdom Government is committed to working in partnership with the territories to do this especially at this difficult time. We are acutely aware of the difficulties being faced by the territories and Colin Roberts, the Director of Overseas Territories in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will be discussing with the Attorneys General…current priorities for the territories.”

Baroness Scotland hoped that the conference delegates would be able to identify priority areas for the territories which she could take back to London to support the islands on a very practical level. She said the FCO was awaiting the outcome of the conference to see how they could use the Overseas Territories Programme Fund to assist them. She requested the delegates to present five matters as their top priorities for discussion and for the conference to decide what they intended to achieve within each quarter of a year.

The Baroness, who was born in Dominica, told the delegates that she had a very personal interest in the Caribbean. “It is an area which is very close to my heart so that I have a very real interest in being involved with, and helping, the territories develop,” she acknowledged. “I am particularly pleased, in my role as United Kingdom’s Attorney General to be able to follow developments and I hope to assist the Caribbean territories.”

She said Attorneys General and those working in their Chambers played a crucial role in each of the Overseas Territories. “In addition to dealing with the heavy legislative load, including reviewing, preparing and assisting with the enactment of legislation, Attorneys General must provide sound and timely advice to territories’ Governments including the Governor on an extremely wide range of issues. The role takes on increasing importance as the territories face new and more complex challenges not only on the domestic front, but internationally too.” She stated that Attorneys General and their staff should be applauded for their diligence and commitment. “The role they play in the good governance of the territory and its economic survival is vital,” she stressed.

The Baroness was grateful to Anguilla’s Attorney General, the Honourable Mr. Wilhelm Bourne, and his team for their fantastic job and hard work in organising the conference to ensure that everything went smoothly. She was also grateful to the Government and people of Anguilla for hosting the conference and making the delegates feel very welcomed.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr. Bourne. He described the conference as being particularly important because of the difficulties experienced by the Overseas Territories and other countries both economically and socially; and the need for Attorneys General to think ahead with a view to finding workable solutions to common problems facing their countries.

“If you want to build a better society, you will have to build the rule of law first and foremost because it is important to the liberalisation and protection” of the societies, he told the delegates. He hoped that the conference would produce action points which could be implemented with immediate effect.

Governor Alistair Harrison paid tribute to the work of the Attorneys General and their staff in the territories, saying it was one of the linchpins of good governance. He remarked that the conference was overshadowed by the current global financial. He noted that one of the results was the sheer uncertainly in which everyone was operating, a matter that called for all to be more imaginative in the way they operate and in finding solutions to problems.

He also paid tribute to Baroness Scotland, describing her as a very able and extremely interactive chairperson, making her audience work thus ensuring that everybody got the most out of the conference.

The Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, spoke about the good relationship Anguilla was enjoying with the UK Government and hoped that it would continue. He was also delighted with the warm relationship among the Overseas Territories.

He saw the Attorneys General conference as being an important matter to help Governments with legal guidelines in areas of good governance; and he was pleased to report that in addition to the visiting lawmen, Anguilla had a cadre of distinguished lawyers, showing how the island’s judicial system “had graduated” over the years.

The final speaker was Director of the Overseas Territories Department, Colin Roberts. He said briefly that the work of the Attorneys General was a very reliable point of reference in the moving, and sometimes unpredictable, world and was of much benefit to his department and the territories in general for which he was most grateful.

The lead for the opening ceremony and the conference was set by an appropriate prayer by Bishop of the Diocese of the Northeastern Caribbean and Aruba, the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks of Anguilla.

Delegates to the conference came from the UK Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Sates of America.

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