‘It is time that we do have a Human Rights Bill’- Hon Ronnie W. Skelton
The Bill received its second reading during the Continuation of the Second Sitting of the Third Session of the Fifth House of Assembly (HoA) on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, where Hon Skelton described it as “well put together”.
The Human Rights Commission Bill seeks to establish a Human Rights Commission as an independent body responsible for promoting, protecting, and monitoring human rights within the Virgin Islands (VI) and is consistent with the provisions of the VI Constitution Order of 2007, which anticipated the establishment of this body.
Third Human Rights Bill before VI’s HoA
Hon Skelton, who was part of the 2007 VI constitution negotiating team, said human rights “was a big thing”.
He explained that this is the third time the Human Rights Bill has come before members of the HoA.
“I must say the bill is well put together. I have some concerns which we’ll deal with in the Committee stage. The bill is well put together, and it deals with almost everything.”
Among his concerns are the powers granted to the Governor in terms of his role in the appointment of the Human Rights Committee, which he said does not align with the modern democracy the VI is trying to build.
The veteran legislator argued that since 1967, everything in the VI’s constitution dealing with “constitutional position, we take the position that the governor is in charge of it and he should be responsible.
Hon Skelton argued that, in terms of the selection of the Human Rights Committee, the bill currently states that the Governor appoints the committee.
“So for the commission to continue to refer everything that it’s doing to the Governor, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me…that’s not democracy at all, that’s something else.”
'It’s time we have a Human Rights Bill'
He shared that he hopes his colleagues in the House will be open to making the necessary amendments to some of the bill’s content, as it does not align with the modern democracy the VI is trying to build.
“I know we’re trying to make ourselves look good here by having the Human Rights Bill approved, so when you go to your negotiation, you could say it was done.”
Hon Skelton said, despite his concerns, which he hopes will be addressed in Committee, he supports the Bill as he thinks “it is time that we do have a Human Rights Bill”.
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4 Responses to “‘It is time that we do have a Human Rights Bill’- Hon Ronnie W. Skelton”
When my case was languishing in the courts in the 1990s, I was informed by the Law Commission that although The Children Act 1989 did not as yet apply to the British Virgin Islands, it nevertheless was a valuable guide to the current trends of thought. It states:
‘’In any proceedings in which any question with respect to the up bringing of a child arises, the court shall have regard to the general principle that any delay in determining the question is likely to prejudice the welfare of the child because of the uncertainty which it created in their lives and because of the prejudice which it would cause to the party who was not with the child. A lengthy delay would make it that much more difficult to convince the court that the status quo should be disturbed.’’
In seeking clarification as to what would be considered “lengthy delay” I was told that a period in excess of twelve weeks would be considered unreasonable. In my case, the court took had taken no less than SIX YEARS to attend to outstanding matters. This is twenty-six times over the recommended limit and must surely represent a record in the delay of matters concerning the welfare of a child.