Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 19, 2022 (SKNIS): Having good laws, institutions and processes in place to ensure accountability, stability, equality and access to justice for all is the key function of government. As such, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, the Honourable Garth Wilkin, during his Budget presentation on day four (December 19), said that the Rule of Law will remain a key function of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Madam Speaker, that is the vision and philosophy of the people’s Government, the injection of the Rule of Law into our nation. What is the Rule of Law? The World Justice Project has said that the Rule of Law comprises the following principles: a system based on fair, publicized, broadly understood and stable laws and fair, robust, and accessible legal processes in which rights and responsibilities based in law are evenly enforced,” said Minister Wilkin. “But from an even more fundamental perspective, we must always remember why we are here to serve the people. This is why, as a responsible society, we choose to subscribe to the Rule of Law, NOT the Rule of Man,” the Attorney-General added.
He added that the Attorney General’s Office and Ministry of Justice & Legal Affairs “are the main advocates for the preservation of the Rule of Law and will continue to educate the society on why the Rule of Law is so important.”
“Why are we concerned with implementing the Rule of Law? Because not only is it the right thing to do in any modern responsible society, but if we want to be a nation that promotes entrepreneurship, encourages innovations and attracts serious investors and professional industries to create a sustainable small island state, we must create a society ripe with fairness, equity, integrity, rules and laws,” said the Honourable Wilkin.
Attorney-General Wilkin said that the Government is focused on building resiliency within the country.
Madam Speaker, our country is at the proverbial fork in the road in our history. If we continue on the unsustainable “all eggs in one basket” course set by the previous administration we could easily become beggars at the foot of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) year after year,” said Attorney-General Wilkin. “However, if we chart a course ‘Towards our Transformation as a Sustainable Small Island State,’ where we diversify our economy and strengthen our institutions, we will be in good fiscal shape for a long time, to the benefit of this generation and the ones to come.”
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