Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis – The Government of the twin island Federation recently shared an update highlighting the achievements of Garth Wilkin, the Attorney General of St. Kitts and Nevis, over the last seven months.
As per the update by the government, the following are the achievements of the Attorney General:
LEGISLATIVE & CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
• Established the Joint Constitutional Review Committee with the Legal Department of the Nevis Island Administration, tasked with re-creating and redesigning our Constitution to create the most equitable solution for the historic economic and political disputes between St Kitts and Nevis.
• Crafted new Citizen by Investment (CBI) regulations to strengthen the legislative framework of our CBI Programme after widespread consultation with CBI stakeholders.
• Consulted with various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and led the drafting of 17 new Bills, 14 of which have been tabled and passed in the National Assembly, including- the safe passage of the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act to provide tools to tackle the scourge of domestic violence in the Federation;
– The safe passage of the main three pillars of the Anti-Corruption/Good Governance new paradigm for our Federation: the Anti-Corruption Act, the Integrity In Public Life (Amendment) Act and the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act; and
– The tabling of important Eastern Caribbean Central Bank legislation in the National Assembly, the Banking (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Bill to amend the ECCB Agreement, which will help protect the Federation and OECS financial system.
INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Elected by the Attorneys General and Law Ministers in the Commonwealth to serve on the Commonwealth Law Ministers Action Group of 9, which allows our small Nation to have a loud international voice in reviewing progress and advising the Commonwealth Secretariat on key Rule of Law and Equal Access to Justice strategies throughout the Commonwealth’s 56 member countries.
• Appointed at the 53rd Meeting of the Council of Legal Education to serve on the Executive Committee, which governs legal education in the Caribbean in February 2023, during the CLE Executive Committee meeting, tasked with chairing a subcommittee on policy development.
• Volunteered to serve on the Financial Action Task Force’s Risk Trends and Method Group on the money laundering risks associated with citizenship and residency by investment programmes. This role will provide St Kitts and Nevis the opportunity to directly explain to the international community how its CBI programme works and the AML measures that are in place.
• Selected to deliver a speech at the Sixth Meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union Attorneys General and Chief Parliamentary Counsel on the topic: Achieving Growth and Resilience – A New Vision for the ECCU Legal System.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE COURTS & REGISTRIES
• Actively participated in the 34th Meeting of the OECS Legal Affairs Committee constituted of OECS Attorneys General to discuss and finalize various important OECS model Bills. Ensured that the District A Magistrates’ Court Complex at Fortlands, Basseterre became fully operational on August 22, 2022, so that the backlog of cases which piled up since the closure of the Sir Lee L Moore Judicial & Legal Services Complex in early June 2022 could be resolved.
• Relocated and reopened the High Court Registry (closed in June 2022) to function from the Sir Tapley Seaton Annex, independence Square East, Basseterre, on August 24, 2022.
• Relocated the High Court (Criminal Division) to the Police Training School in September 2022 to ensure there would be no significant backlog of criminal trials.
• Secured the appointment of three (3) new Commissioners of Oaths from the High Court and Land R staff.
