In July 2008, in response to concerns brought by citizens of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), the UK Government launched a Commission of Inquiry. This Commission ultimately led to a series of findings that warranted “a need for urgent suspension in whole or in part of the Constitution and for other legislative and administrative reforms.” This led to a targeted intervention by the UK Government, for an interim period, including an Order in Council suspending the Government of the TCI and the enactment of the TCI Constitution (Interim Amendment) Order 2009. During the interim period, a series of necessary reforms were to be effectuated to secure reform in the public sector and in the legislative landscape to restore democratic self-governance, sustainable development and financial viability of the TCI.
In this context, Human Dynamic’s specialist expertise was recruited to assist Turks and Caicos to undertake a legislative review between November 2010 and May 2012. The project resulted in the creation of 43 legal instruments, primarily legislation and regulations. The team worked on a wide range of topics including Crown Land, Company Law and specialised ordinances such as the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance.
From the onset of the project, a new Constitution was implemented, and within this new framework, our team delivered substantial and meaningful legislative outcomes. To ensure a thorough and comprehensive approach, our team methodically went through four work phases. Phase 1 involved the identification of a legal framework for the review, which included naming the policy ideals for legislation. Phase 2 was to research and explore appropriate policy solutions and customise these to the situation in TCI; this process involved the creation of green papers, which were then discussed in detailed and extended public consultation with over 200 stakeholders to ensure that the solutions actually solved the genuine concerns of the community. In Phase 3, the process of collaboration and conversation concluded with the publication of a white paper, which provided a framework from which the legislation was then drafted by our team of specialists working with local experts. In Phase 4, this legislation was then introduced into parliament when appropriate.
Strengthening local capacities to deepen the technical capacity of the Interim Administration was a also priority for our team as not all of the legislation could pass through the Parliament during the lifetime of the project. In total, 19 Bills and related regulations were created for areas of law that the Turks and Caicos Islands did not previously have legislation.
Our team, including two law professors, all had extensive experience drafting legislation in the Caribbean. Our Key Expert was the former Attorney General of neighbouring Montserrat; one short-term expert was the Chief Parliamentary Draftsman in Bermuda. That Human Dynamics could leverage such experience allowed our team to develop sophisticated legislation on a range of topics.