Christ Church, Barbados (SKNIS): The 34th Meeting of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Legal Affairs Committee was held on March 9 and 10, 2023 in Barbados. Attending the meeting on behalf of the Federation was Attorney-General, Senator Garth Wilkin.
“The OECS Legal Affairs Committee met this week to discuss and finalize various OECS model Bills – the Contingent Rights Bill, the Standards Bill, the Animal Health Bill and the Plant Protection Bill. It was a productive meeting efficiently chaired by Hon. Levi Peter, Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Dominica. There was frank and stimulating discussion on these important bills, particularly the Contingent Rights Bill which seeks to expand important OECS Economic Union principles established by the Revised Treaty of Basseterre” said Attorney-General Wilkin.
Also in attendance were Attorneys-General Hon. Claudette Joseph from Grenada, Hon. Sheree Jemmotte-Rodney from Montserrat, Hon. Leslie Mondesir from Saint Lucia, Hon. Grenville Williams from St Vincent and The Grenadines and Solicitor-General Martin Camacho from Antigua & Barbuda.
Attorney-General Wilkin added that he “is pleased that St Kitts will host the scheduled 35th Meeting of the OECS Legal Affairs Committee in April 2023 which coincides with the 6th Meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union Attorneys General and Chief Parliamentary Counsel at which [he] will present on the topic: Achieving Growth and Resilience – A New Vision for the ECCU Legal System.”
The OECS Economic Union was established on June 18, 2010, through the signing of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre. It constitutes a single financial and economic space within which all factors of production including goods, services, capital, enterprises and people are able to move freely throughout the Economic Union Area which comprises seven Protocol Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.