Recommendations for Constitutional Reforms in Grenada

Introduction

Globally, numerous systematic and conjectural developments have elicited the need for constitutional reforms in countries with straddling democratic, authoritarian, and military traditions. Grenada is not an exception, and due to the questionable level of political inclusivity, the level of corruption, authoritarian governance, skewed parliament, lack of accountability, and general political discontent in the country, the country has severally undertaken the process of reforming its constitution. The country's democracy is not only dominated by strong political executive but an authoritarian rule caused by the outcomes of general elections that have led to a robust single party controlling the parliament. Based on these limitations and subversions of the Grenadian democracy, numerous reform commissions have been formed to correctly inform the political administration on how to improve constitutional governance and consequently enhance the quality of democracy in the country. Therefore, this paper major on the context of renewed interest in constitutional reform in Grenada and identifies recommendations for the reforms.

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Constitutional Reform in Grenada

Grenada is currently engaged in reviewing its constitution formally. The constitutional review is partially linked to the political importance of participating in the domestic political process to shape a homemade document and to transform the new society following its attainment of independence from Britain. Therefore, the constitutional reform aims to correct the historical oversight through public education, public debate, and requests for written documents to different people across the country (Albert, 2017). Similarly, the imperative for change is a critical reflection of the pressure for a better democracy such as the demand for improved citizen protection, more rights, and freedoms for citizens, labor rights, greater equity, protection of environment and animals among others (Bulkan, 2013). It also reflects the need to adhere to international best practices.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Judicial Reforms

The recent constitutional reform process in Grenada has concentrated on the need for reorganizing and reforming the present systems of justice partially due to the seamlessness between the political executive and judiciary. For a fact, it is believed that a truly independent judiciary is the last line of protection for individual freedom and rights (de Mestral, 2014).

A significant limitation in the endorsement of constitutional rights in Grenada is the way in which judges are appointed. Barrow-Giles (2010) noted that the Her Majesty appoints the Chief Justice by Letters Patent while the Judicial and Legal Services Commission has the power to appoint, discipline and dismiss magistrates, judges, as well as, judges of the Supreme Court. For this reason, there are numerous potential political dangers in the administration of justice and the current system of judicial appointments. As stated by Elkins, Ginsburg, and Blount (2011) there is a high chance of political interference or influence in the appointment of judges because all judges apart from the Chief Justice are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, a body comprised of persons nominated based on the recommendations from the Head of Government. Thus, the possibility of the executive and politicians influencing the judicial decisions is an issue that needs critical examination. One of the leading recommendations for constitutional review is that the Chief Justice of the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Eastern Caribbean Court should fully control the budgets of the stated courts. Interposition of the executive as the sole budget controlling body and its expenditures affects the independence of the judiciary (de Mestral, 2014). Secondly, judges should be immune from prosecution for acts they commit while conducting their assigned duties. This implies that judges should never be punished for any judgment they render either against or in favor of the executive because they execute their assigned function of administering justice.

Due to the supremacy of the state in small societies, it is not anything to doubt that the state would face numerous litigations in court. Reports indicate that in Grenada, members of the executive including the Prime Minister has been taken to courts for the breach of financial acts (Haynes, 2010). Therefore, there is a need for the creation of a foundation for constitutional reform that will not only safeguard the judiciary but also acts to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the body politics of the country in an attempt to curb the growing criminalization of the Caribbean state. Secondly, the process of appointing judicial officers should be in camera, and personal information should not be availed to the public. Given that the appointments links to the highest constitutional power, availing the information to the public would instill undue pressure on judges and some people within the society could also misuse the available information for their vested interests.

In addition to the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, an investigative committee should be formed purposely to investigate the misbehavior or incapacity of high court and Supreme Court judges and recommend for their removal. To ensure accountability and instill public confidence, complaints against judges and other judicial officers must be treated as a matter of urgency, and the complaints should be addressed promptly according to the law. More importantly, individuals who launch frivolous and false complaints against judicial officers must be dealt with as prescribed in the constitution. Stringent actions should be taken against such persons as this will be a huge step towards ensuring judicial accountability while similarly discouraging frivolous and false complaints (Harding, 2004).

Recommendations on Fundamental Rights and Freedom

The fundamental rights and freedom enshrined in the constitution of Grenada are often reflective of civil and political rights renowned as natural rights. Intuitively, these entail the right to life, liberty, not to be denied property without sufficient compensation, to freedom of association and speech (Midgett, 1983). Although the stated rights exist and are often believed to be immune to political change, their application and endorsement usually depend on the parliament as well as, the attitude of the judiciary.

Secondly, the constitution of Grenada does not consider the growing body of economic and social rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights endorsed in the year 1976 following its ratification by several members of the UN (Moore, 1984). This covenant identifies the rights to health, education work among others. Recently, suggestions have been put forward to safeguard the environment and to review the current basis of discrimination to entail disability, as well as, sexual orientation. More importantly, there is a dire need to reinforce protection of the rights to confidentiality and privacy against the increase of HIV/AIDS coupled with technological advancements and the digital revolution.

Thirdly, the secrecy that forms a critical element of governance in the country is also viewed as a denial of quality governance. In the recent past, there have been numerous calls for the endorsement of legislation of freedom of information acts. For this reason, the present constitutional process should include it in the revised constitution. Reports indicate that presently, Grenada restricts information as ordinary citizens hardly access crucial information that they can use to make informed decisions (O' Brien, 2016). However, such limits also extend to the media. Therefore, the constitutional review should consider making the official communication more available and free and offer for appropriate access by each to official information, safeguard the official information to a level consistent with the interest of the public, upholds personal confidentiality and privacy, and creates a procedure for the attainment of the stated purposes.

On the same vein, Grenada represents a case study of fostering the political equality of gender. Principally, the recent constitutional reforms have focused on establishing gender justice regarding work, citizenship, and other economic issues. Recent constitutional modification process has also formulated proposals for the attainment of women's political equality (Smart, 1986). Therefore, the critical recommendation principles should be enshrined the Grenadian constitution that fosters women participation in policy decision makings and in discussing issues affecting the public. In light of this, the parliament should make concerted efforts to enhance the participation of women in different processes and provides opportunities for decision making at various levels including political parties and National Assembly. In particular, women should be given 40.5 % representation in political parties and parliament. This provision should ensure that the number of females in each political party's top positions should not less than one-third of the number of individuals on that party. The constitution review should provide that the total number of women in every party's list for geographical constituencies combined should be at least 40% of the total number of individuals on those elected positions combined for the geographical regions where the party is contesting. More importantly, the constitution should ensure that there should not be 20% of the number of regional constituencies where a party contesting for that party's regional constituency list lacks any female (Smart, 1986).

Recommendation for Electoral Reform

A bright look of Grenada reveals that democratic and electoral reforms are needed to fulfill the challenges of the 21st century and instill public confidence in the government. Undoubtedly, there is excessive political interference; political imbalance and cronyism together with adequate evidence indicating the administrative procedures are regularly and deliberately violated (Barrow-Giles, 2010). Studies also reveal that the government is not adequately reform-oriented, is prone to misuse of positions and enjoy excessive power (Albert, 2017). To a more significant extent, the country has failed to endorse sufficient legislation to guide the responsibilities and functions of parliamentary representatives.

Based on the current constitution, the government faces little and disoriented opposition in parliament. The present New National Party, the ruling body, hardly faces any opposition in the parliament. It occupies all the 15 positions in the House of Representatives, despite securing only 59% of the popular votes in the recently concluded general election. Sadly, the National Democratic Congress was accorded no position despite garnering 41% of popular votes (Bulkan, 2013). Intuitively, this is a second case where the ruling party has earned all the seats in parliament, implying that there is no official leader of the opposition. From the democratic standpoint, lack of opposition leader is undesirable because it implies that there is no duly recognized opposition in the House of Representative to ensure that the government remains accountable or to offer essential alternatives to government policy (Elkins, Ginsburg, & Bloun, 2011). A case on point is the personal account of the deputy prime minister of Grenada, Elvin Nimrod, who lost the zeal and steam in the parliament every time he looked around and failed to see opposition. Haynes (2010) also noted that lack of opposition leader in the parliament presents the president with constitutional when...