Attorney General shouldn’t be in Cabinet & HoA- Hon Julian Fraser RA
His comments came while debating the 2022-2023 Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) Report during the Ninth Sitting of the Second Session of the Fifth House of Assembly (HoA) on Thursday, September 18, 2025.
Hon Fraser cited Section 48 of the report, which reads, “There shall be an Attorney General of the Virgin Islands whose office shall be a public office and who shall be appointed in accordance with Section 95. The Attorney General shall be the principal legal advisor to the government of the Virgin Islands.”
The Deputy Premier said he has always questioned what is meant by the Government of the Virgin Islands and who is the legal counsel for the HoA.
“The term Government of the Virgin Islands does not include the House of Assembly. If it doesn’t include the House of Assembly, then answer this question…where does the Attorney General sit in the House of Assembly as a member?”
Same question for almost 20 years
These questions are what need answers, he said, adding that his questions cannot fall on deaf ears.
“I am serious. Since 2007, when we negotiated our constitution, I advocated, I contended, I should say, that the Attorney General should not be in Cabinet and should not be in the House of Assembly. That was my contention then, it’s my contention now.”
VI needs a Minister of Justice
Instead, Hon Fraser said, a Minister of Justice is needed.
“It is high time the Attorney General be elected as opposed to being someone who walks in from office, sit in the House of Assembly and sit in Cabinet.”
He said if the Premier needs something relating to Communications and Works, he references the appropriate minister; however, the same cannot be said about the Attorney General.
“That’s why you know we limp along with a system that is barely functional, and we call it walking, but it’s not. We could do better, we smarter than that, all of us.”
Hon Fraser turned to his colleagues and told them he did not know how they could sleep at nights.
“With all these imperfections, all these things that are happening that need to be fixed, you still go to sleep at night [and] wake up in the morning like nothing happened. I’m throwing in your face right now, I am.”
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