Concerns by the Governor and United Kingdom officials continue to be the main deterrent in having three outstanding bills assented to, which were passed under the Andrew Fahie led Administration.
Premier Fahie made that disclosure during the 11th Sitting of the House of Assembly recently, while responding to questions posed by senior Opposition legislator Julian Fraser.
Two of the Bills were passed in the House of Assembly more than a year ago, while the other was the first bill to be passed in 2021.
These Bills include the Virgin Islands Cannabis Licensing Act 2020 which was passed on June 30, 2020, the Drug Prevention of Misuse Amendment Act 2020 passed on July 2, 2020, and the Disaster Management Act 2021 which was passed on January 6, 2021.
While giving his response, Premier Fahie revealed some of the concerns raised by Governor John Rankin.
He said, “There are three bills passed by the House of Assembly during our tenure that have not been assented to by the governor and this stems back to the last governor. There are the Medical Marijuana, the amendment to the Drug and Prevention Act and the Disaster Management Act in terms of amendments.”
“The Disaster Management Bill was not assented to for the reasons given to the governor that the amendments to the bill infringes on his constitutional responsibility. This matter is still out for the jury. The other two bills were not assented to by the governor and were sent to the Foreign Secretary of State to be assented. They have flagged some concerns where discussions are still ongoing,” he further stated.
We did all that was required
The leader of government business said his Administration did all that was required to ensure the three Bills were not impeding any laws.
“I must say that all the necessary leg work legally was done before they got to the House. You know that they were thoroughly vetted by the House and these span two attorney generals and all the green lights were given that they would not violate in any constitutional powers nor would they violate in any international regulations or anything at all. But at the end of the day the reasons have been sited why they have not been assented to date. So I will leave that for the member,” he explained.
Possibility of older bills still not assented to
As a follow up question, Fraser then asked the premier whether there were any other bills that were not assented to, that would have been passed in the House of Assembly prior to the premier taking office in 2019.
Premier Fahie said while he will have to do research to be certain, it is possible.
“They very well maybe, I have to check because I vaguely remember the Prison Act that was amended, the correction facility, I remember in the opposition when that was done and that was sent to be assented to and I never saw it assented to. So that may very well be one of them that I remember now that you asked and pronging my memory even further than the last administration. I do not recall any other but I would do some more thorough research,” Premier Fahie stated.
Member for the Third District Julian Fraser said he believes a thorough investigation is needed to determine the real reason for not having these three bills assented to.