The Constitutional Reform Committee is a committee of the

Government of Jamaica Politics in Jamaica takes place in the framework of a representative parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The 1962 Constitution of Jamaica established a parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions closely follow those ...

tasked with revising and reforming Jamaica's constitutional arrangements, including the abolition of the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

Mandate

Its mandate is four-fold: # To assess the implementation of the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional and Electoral Reform (JSCCER), whose report was approved by Parliament in 1995. # To evaluate the recommendations of the JSCCER on establishing the Office of President. # To assist in coordinating the required

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...

collaboration and national consultation during the various phases of reform work. # To educate the electorate on their role in the referendum process.

Proposed reforms

The committee was approved by the

Cabinet of Jamaica The Cabinet of Jamaica is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory. The Cabinet of Jamaica is the principal instrument of government policy. It consists of ...

on 16 November 2022 as a consultative, collaborative committee. It was to be supported by a secretariat provided by the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The opposition leader,

Mark Golding Mark Jefferson Golding (born 19 July 1965) is a Jamaican politician who has been Opposition Leader of Jamaica and President of the People's National Party since November 2020, following the 2020 Jamaican general election, 2020 general election. ...

, criticised the government for excluding discussion of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

from the purview of the committee.

First phase

The first phase of reform, expected to run for two months, was to include the repatriation of the Jamaican constitution, the abolition of constitutional monarchy, and the establishment of a republic. The aim was to table legislation in parliament to make Jamaica a republic in May 2023. In late April,

Marlene Malahoo Forte Marlene Patricia Malahoo Forte is a Jamaican politician. She has been the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs since January 2022, and was the Attorney General of Jamaica from 7 March 2016 to 10 January 2022. She served as a Senator ...

said that the scope of the first phase would just be reduced to the abolition of constitutional monarchy: "Maybe we have to deal with the narrow question of just abolishing the monarch in the constitutional make up of Jamaica while we work out the other issues."

Members

The 14 original members of the committee were announced on 23 March 2023.

Criticism

The appointment of Richard Albert was criticised by Christian groups Jamaica CAUSE and Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society as he is a non-national and because of his pro-

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

views. Dancehall artist

Spragga Benz Carlton Errington Grant (born 30 May 1969), better known as Spragga Benz, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay. Career He began his career around 1991. He was once known to his friends as "Spaghetti" (tall and slim), but this was later shortened to ...

claimed Albert's appointment was a cover for "the West" to promote

gender-affirming surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

in Jamaica.

References

{{Reflist Government of Jamaica