OT 387: Letter from Chris Bryant MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to the Chairman of the Committee: St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha: Constitutional Review

 

 

My predecessor as Minister for the Overseas Territories, Gillian Merron, wrote to you on 18 May updating you on negotiations for a new Constitution for St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Attached to that letter was a draft Constitution Order which she said she hoped to put to the Privy Council in July.

 

Since then, I have corresponded with all three Councils and have held a teleconference with the St Helena Legislative Council. This has led to some minor amendments to the draft that Gillian sent you. I should flag up four.

 

The St Helena Legislative Councillors were very keen to see additional language on the question of citizenship. You will probably be aware that their concern goes back to the lingering feeling on the island that what happened under the 1981 British Nationality Act - taking away from Saints UK citizenship with the right of abode in the UK and replacing it with British Overseas Territories citizenship without such right of abode - could be repeated. While I pointed out to Councillors, and they understood, that anything on the question of British nationality in the Constitution would not prevent the UK Parliament from legislating, we agreed to amend section 20 of the Constitution to include a provision saying that "as everyone has the right to a nationality, no person shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her British citizenship, whether by legislation or otherwise". We have also reformulated relevant sections in the Ascension and Tristan chapters.

 

Secondly, St Helena Councillors asked us to have another look at the question of whether courts might, in certain circumstances, enquire whether any body or person had given effect to the partnership values listed in section 2. While the values are statements of political principle and it would therefore be inappropriate for a court to decide on the legality of an action purely on the basis of one of the values, we have agreed that the Supreme Court may enquire, only on an application for judicial review, whether or not any organ of government (other than the Governor) has acted rationally and with procedural propriety in relation to giving effect to a partnership value.

 

 

St Helena Councillors also asked that there should be no possibility of a change in the membership of Executive Council for the first two years from the date of their election, rather than only a period of 12 months. We have therefore made an amendment to section 36. And the Tristan da Cunha Island Council have asked for further assurance on the independence of the audit of their public finances. This is a positive move and we have therefore inserted an additional section 228.

 

Beyond these points, Ascension and Tristan Councils have written to me with their unanimous support for the new Constitution; and the majority of St Helena Legislative Councillors have also expressed their support, either in a Council meeting or, for those off the island, from wherever they currently are. I shall, as Gillian suggested, therefore put the new Constitution Order to the Privy Council meeting on 8 July. I have attached a copy of the final version.

 

I hope you will agree that this is a very positive step forward for St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The new Constitution has been a long time in the making, but I believe that it now represents a marked improvement on the 1988 Order which will be to the benefit of all who live on St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

 

 

I have just seen your letter of 29 June and could perhaps respond to the point you make about the St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution here.

 

The reference to "Christian and family values" in the preamble was one sought by the islands following local consultation. As you will be aware, the vast majority of the population is Christian and this reference was regarded as an important expression of the values of the islands. But you will note that the reference is immediately preceded by the phrase "wishing to continue as communities of tolerance, with respect for government and the law". And you will also have seen the terms of section 15 on the protection of freedom of conscience; and of section 21 on protection from discrimination which specifically refers to religion. I am therefore confident that the preambular language will not have an unhelpful effect.

 

You also asked about references to Ascension. I should perhaps first say that the fact that there is a separate Ascension Chapter (and Tristan da Cunha Chapter) is an innovation requested by various people on all three islands. The Ascension Chapter was discussed at length - in person and in correspondence - with the Ascension Island Council; and public meetings were held in all of the workplaces on the island to ensure all had a chance to discuss it. During these discussions, we were always upfront about the fact that the UK Government has no plans to develop the right of abode or the right to purchase property. We also had a number of discussions about what should go in the Constitution and what should be in the Island Government (Ascension) Ordinance which covers a lot of the more detailed issues on the role/responsibility of the Island Council. As I said above, the result of these discussions was a letter from the Island Councillors which, while pointing to continued interest of some in eg the right of abode, expressed satisfaction with the new Constitution and a wish to see it progress to the Privy Council in July.

 

I hope this helps and please let me know if you have further questions.

 

 

2 July 2009