Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Constitutional Development
In conjunction with Overseas Territories’ governments we are continuing to review
and modernise the constitutions of the Overseas Territories. All Territory
constitutions agreed by the Government since 1999 include a Bill of Rights, including
a non-discrimination clause that reflects at a minimum the European Convention on
Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In March the Pitcairn Islands’ new constitution came into force. This enshrined
human rights for the first time; provided for an attorney-general; affirmed the
authority of the Island Council; updated the role of the governor; and brought the
judicial system into the constitution. In October, following agreement with the
government of Montserrat, a new constitution order was made which is scheduled to
come into force in 2011. It also contains an updated Bill of Rights. This is an
important improvement on the outdated 1989 constitution, and will offer a sound
basis for human rights and good government in Montserrat. The present
government of Anguilla had not, by the end of 2010, made a formal request to
renegotiate its constitution but the UK Government stands ready should it choose to
do so.
During 2010 we worked with the Department for International Development (DFID)
on a number of projects to promote human rights in the Overseas Territories. These
included a DFID-funded £1 million project run by the Commonwealth Foundation to
help both governments and civil society realise the rights set out in the new or
revised constitutions. The project aims to build the capacity of governments,
national institutions and civil society to address human rights issues and to
strengthen human rights reporting and monitoring arrangements. The project
organised human rights training workshops in Anguilla, the Cayman Islands,
Montserrat, St Helena, Ascension and the Falkland Islands for officials and civil
society on how to apply, monitor and report on human rights and examined the
situation in each Territory to help identify where further work was necessary. As a
result of these workshops, national human rights action plans will be developed by
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