EDITOR, The Tribune. 

I was constrained to write after reading your Front Page report dated Monday September 23rd, 2024 and captioned “‘Married Women’ law reform call over FamGuard Dispute”.  

I enthusiastically applaud the bold call to action by Acting Chief Justice, the Honorable Deborah Fraser, for by calling on the legislature to “do everything in its power” to reform a 140 year old law. It is time, actually it is past the time, to change laws that are archaic and harmful to our citizenry and others who are resident here. It is past the time to ourselves of vestiges of a colonial period which even the colonisers no longer recognise. 

Perhaps it is time for The Bahamas to make all Members of Parliament, and perhaps Senators, full time legislators. There is too much work to be done for the majority of the members of the House of Assembly (except in this dispensation) to be part time members and members without portfolio. Perhaps the Attorney General’s office could be staffed with a combination of two to three fully functioning state ministers and parliamentary secretaries. 

Perhaps the Legal Drafting Department can be augmented such that deep and sustained dives to update archaic laws whilst keeping abreast a fast changing, quickly evolving 21st century global landscape. We can be as bold and creative as our needs require us to be. Bold steps to fix and update a systems that lags in far too many areas are urgently needed. 

A bi-partisan meeting of the minds and hearts of legislators is an urgent imperative to move our country in the direction that strengthens our position as a developing country but more importantly, the rights and aspirations of our citizens are protected in line with the world we live in today.

SHONEL FERGUSON  MBE, JP

Nassau,

October 3, 2024.