The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said his office will have a discussion with Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis about whether to continue its appeal of a landmark citizenship ruling to the Privy Council.

Mr Pinder said he personally believes the matter should be adjudicated before the country’s final appellate court.

In June, the Court of Appeal affirmed a Supreme Court decision that Bahamian men can automatically pass citizenship to their children regardless of whether their child is born out of wedlock to non-Bahamian mothers. The case was brought by Wayne Munroe, the recently appointed National Security Minister.

The Court of Appeal was split on the matter, with Justices Maureen Crane-Scott, Jon Isaacs and Roy Jones upholding Justice Ian Winder’s ruling while President Sir Michael Barnett and Justice Milton Evans dissented.

The previous government secured leave to appeal the matter to the Privy Council.

Mr Davis, nonetheless, has publicly expressed support for Justice Winder’s decision before.

“It’s a very sound and erudite decision and reasoning,” he told The Tribune last year. “He departed from (former Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall) and I thought he gave some cogent reasons as to why he went the way he did.

“There’s some suspicion that it could have some deleterious effect on the country, but I think not. As he indicated in his ruling, the question of whether a person has fathered a child is now easily verifiable through the technological advancements that mankind has made. You don’t have to rely on just the word of one or the other. You can establish it. If there are concerns that this could be abused, then domestic legislation could solve whatever mischief could arise.

“My recollection is when we were dealing with the referendum (on this issue), it was supposed to cause laws to be passed to ensure there is some degree of certainty in proof of paternity. There are paternity tests, for example, and we can legislate that requirement as part of proving that you are the father once you’re not married. In place of swearing an affidavit to say you’re the father, something else could be put there.”

The Progressive Liberal Party has traditionally supported amending rules to accomplish what Justice Winder’s ruling allowed. The Christie administration put the question of whether Bahamian fathers of children born out of wedlock to non-Bahamian mothers should be able to automatically pass on their citizenship to voters in a referendum in 2016. Bahamians decisively rejected the proposed amendment, as well as the other referendum questions, at the time.

Asked about the matter ahead of a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Pinder said: “That is a matter we are going to discuss with the Prime Minister. My personal belief is you let those types of matters run their course in the courts and have a determination made in the courts and at the highest court level, which is the Privy Council. That’s not unique to this country. You see it all the time, in the United States for instance, allowing matters to go to the Supreme Court to be adjudicated and matters of question, so my personal belief is this is a matter that should go to the Privy Council and get a determination from the highest law in the land.”

The case hinges around the interpretation of Article 6 of the constitution and whether the reference to “father” in Article 14 (1) of the document is applicable when interpreting Article 6.