More work needed on Civil Status Bill
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Contact: Julita Peter
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 – The Attorney General Chambers may have to take the Civil Status Bill back to the drawing board. The Bill which was presented in Parliament on Tuesday for second reading was ruled out because of errors and in some cases omissions.
Opposition Leader Hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony, who spoke extensively on the Bill, said the errors could have been avoided had the Select Committee met to review the Bill. Dr Anthony said the Civil Status Bill was an opportunity to resolve serious problems causing a lot of irritation to ordinary people and citizens at large.
“For the purpose of registering that Act of Civil Status, Saint Lucia is divided into five districts. We agreed to extend [the number of districts] to eleven, so it was not corrected. There are some constitutional problems with this bill. For example clause four section two says: 'there shall be one or more assistant civil status registrars appointed by the Public Service Commission'. The PCS is not a judicial body authorized to appoint person to carry out judicial functions,” Dr. Anthony said.
Dr. Anthony said the current problems associated with birth certificates were brought on by district priests, district registrars, and even parents.
“So in preparing this Bill, we clearly have to attempt to resolve this problem. It would mean therefore that we have to take serious care in respect of district registrars and who we appoint to be district registrar. It is important that we do that with the increased secularization occurring in the country at large,” he said. After a brief break at Tuesday’s sitting, Parliament voted on not allowing the bill through its remaining stages and to be returned to the Attorney General’s Chambers for review. |
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