Letter from the Foreign Secretary to the
Chairman of the Committee
Thank you for your letter of 9 May enclosing
a copy of one from Warren Cabral of The Association for Due Process
and the Constitution, 34 Upper Tachbrook Street, Pimlico, London,
SW1V 1SW to Sir John Stanley about the constitutional review process
in Bermuda.
Mr Cabral is concerned about the Government
of Bermuda's proposal to introduce single member constituencies
in place of the existing 20 dual-member constituencies and wants
HMG to establish a Constitutional Conference to consider the matter.
There is no set precedent for any constitutional review. The process
in each Overseas Territory has to be handled according to the
circumstances of the territory concerned. We have assured Mr Cabral
that it is our intention to encourage further public consultation
in Bermuda about the Bermuda Government's proposal. We have insisted
on this from the start of the Bermudian constitutional review
process.
To answer your specific questions:
— The Government of Bermuda has pressed
HMG to amend the Constitution of Bermuda to establish single-member
constituencies. They proposed a review by a local Constituency
Boundaries Commission whose recommendations would have given immediate
effect by the Governor once endorsed by the House of Assembly
and the Premier. Instead we insisted that any report by the Boundaries
Commission should be submitted to London after debate in Bermuda;
an Order in Council made last July requires this. Action to implement
the report, or any variation of it, would then require a further
Order in Council amending the Constitution. I therefore considered
that it was not necessary or appropriate to call a constitutional
conference before the draft Order in Council was recommended to
Her Majesty in Council last July.
— Once the Boundaries Commission's
recommendations are known, which I understand will be in June
or July, there will be a further debate in Bermuda. A constitutional
conference has not been ruled out, nor the principle of a referendum
(although this is not in our gift and would require legislation
in Bermuda).
— A constitutional conference was held
in 1979, on only one of the previous six occasions on which Bermuda's
Constitution has been amended.
Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
23 May 2002
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