Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles OBE, along with the Attorneys General of ten of the UK’s Overseas Territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBAs), St Helena and Ascension & Tristan da Cunha) and representatives from the US and Canadian Departments of Justice attended a UK Attorney General’s Conference last week.
The meeting that was held in Miami from 12- 14 of November to discuss a range of topics relating to the rule of law and administration of justice in the Territories and enhance mutual cooperation was chaired by the UK Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP and co-chaired by Mrs. Braithwaite-Knowles.
In a press release, the UK Solicitor General, Robert Buckland said:
“This Government has set out to reinvigorate our relationship with the Overseas Territories, to increase the UK’s engagement with Territory governments at all levels and to support them where required.
The Attorneys General of the Territories play a key role in driving forward legal reform and helping us meet our wider ambitions for the Territories. Ensuring good governance and respect for the rule of law is a fundamental and vital platform for delivering security and prosperity for our citizens so that Territories present themselves as reliable and transparent partners in business and attract new investment.
During the conference we have discussed cooperation on a number of important topics, including mutual legal assistance and extradition procedures, tackling bribery, fraud and corruption in the territories, improving legislative drafting processes, child safeguarding and constitutional matters.
We have committed to work together to:
1. continue efforts to ensure that the Territories meet global standards in tackling bribery and corruption, particularly through the extension of the UN Convention Against Corruption and other related conventions where they do not already apply;
2. address gaps in Territories’ legislation and provide training support, enabling them to deal effectively with complex fraud and corruption cases, including through the recovery of criminal assets;
3. simplify and improve extradition and mutual legal assistance arrangements, including through the extension to the territories of the UK Extradition Act;
4. ensure Territories develop and implement robust child protection measures, including through the completion of comprehensive child protection reviews, where these have not already been undertaken;
5. improve forward-planning and information exchange on UK and Territory legislative programmes and to improve the legislative drafting process in the Territories, through better coordination and sharing of resources where possible.”
Attorney General, Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE said:
“The meeting was very meaningful and presented a rare but important opportunity for Attorneys General across the UK Overseas Territories to meet and share experiences and lessons learnt. There are clearly similar challenges and successes across the Overseas Territories and coordination and cooperation are key to addressing the wide variety of issues that confront Attorneys General in these Territories. I was very pleased to attend the meeting for the first time and look forward to working with colleagues over the course of the next year to realize the goals we set for ourselves.”
