Govt, citizens must uphold rule of law to ensure democracy- Attorney General

Aug 07, 2019 News

“The rule of law, as we all are aware, is a cornerstone of democratic societies. It posits that everyone, including Governments, must be subject to laws, which must be equally applied and enforced, independently adjudicated and consistent with respect for human rights,” said Attorney General Basil Williams.

Attorney General Basil Williams

He was addressing a public lecture to review the recommendations made in its 2018 Report on the Survey of Legal Education in CARICOM member states.
The event was held recently at the Marriott Hotel.
According to Williams, the rule of law must be upheld by protecting the independence and integrity of our legal institutions and by ensuring that those who work within these systems are properly trained while noting that without quality and continuous legal education the rule of law can be undermined
He said, “The rule of law plays another critical role. It underscores the right of citizens to access to justice. Access to justice emphasizes the protection of citizens’ rights, guarantees to legal recourse and the provision of means for the lawful settlement of disputes. Law is becoming ubiquitous. It is intruding, increasingly, into all spheres of social life.”
Williams added, “If the region’s citizens, therefore, are to participate meaningfully in decision-making and if their human rights are to be respected, then it is imperative that they have a greater awareness of the law, its impact on and its relationship to them, and the approaches which are open to them in seeking the protection of the law.”
The Attorney General said that Caribbean legal systems are forces of societal integration; each acts as a gel, binding society, regulating social relations and fostering cooperation. Without a system of rules, regulations and sanctions, he noted, these societies would dishevel and descend into anarchy.
Williams reminded that during his address at the graduation ceremony of the Hugh Wooding Law School last year, Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) judge Winston Anderson warned that: “If we don’t have and enforce rules in society by which we relate to each other then things tend to fall apart; we have chaos; the rule of the jungle. Without rules, our society becomes an unhappy place in which to live and in which no foreigner would wish to invest.”
According Williams, the 2012 report entitled Justice Reform in CARICOM: Analysis and Programming Options, reforms aimed at bolstering our legal systems are necessary to strengthen the rule of law.
“The rule of law, according to the United Nations,“…requires measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency,” the Attorney General noted.

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