REMARKS
OF
SENATOR CARL W. BETHEL QC,
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
AT THE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND MINISTRY OF LEGAL AFFAIRS
on the Occasion of the
“OPENING OF THE LEGAL YEAR”
WEDNESDAY, 13TH JANUARY, 2021 AT 10:00 A.M.
LEGAL YEAR 2021
I wish to thank Archbishop Patrick Christopher Pinder, and Bishop Delton Fernander, and all those Reverend Gentlemen and Ladies of the Clergy who have prayed for our country at the advent of this New Year, and for commemorating the Opening of the Legal Year.
I come before this Honourable Court and the Bahamian people to provide a report on my stewardship in 2020 and our goals for the coming year. I will give an update on the FATF Grey List, the EU Black List, and the improvements in the Court of Appeal, and the Office of the Judiciary, as well as the Court Modernization and Reform Initiative (COMRIN). I will also give a brief overview of the work of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Public Defenders, the Industrial Tribunal and the Registrar General Department.
2020 PANDEMIC
1. In “2020”, we embarked a new decade with new hopes and dreams. However, the decade did not continue the way we anticipated. The year “2020” has been an unprecedented and exceptional year, globally. 2020 will essentially be recalled by history as “the lost year1”
2. In 2020 we were confronted by the outbreak of Coronavirus 19 (“COVID-19”) which has had a profound effect on the Bahamian society and economy; indeed upon the entire world. COVID-19 has taken the lives of more than 150 Bahamians. Let us pause for a moment of reverent silence, to mark the Passing of so many victims of this terrible scourge. As a result of this pestilence, many Bahamians became ill, lost their jobs and found themselves feeling lonely and isolated. As a result of the Pandemic Bahamian culture have been dominated by the need to keep a safe distance. Social distancing, wearing masks and hand washing have been dubbed “the new norm”.
3. The Government of The Bahamas has been forced to take strict measures at an early stage to combat COVID-19, and Bahamians by and large have willingly taken part in this national effort. To date, The Bahamas has been hit by two waves of the infection since March, and in both instances, The Bahamas has coped better than most countries. Indeed, today, as most advanced countries around the globe have been forced to retreat into mass lockdowns, we in The Bahamas have fared somewhat better due to our early and persistent disciplined enforcement of all necessary sanitization, distancing and mask wearing measures. Bahamians have put aside their own interests to protect the elderly and other high risk groups, and in so doing have assisted in saving many lives.
4. My thoughts are with all of the persons who have been affected by COVID-19.
5. Today, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the essential workers who are on the front line of our fight against COVID-19. Also, to those who have given of their time and efforts, and have worked nights, and weekends to ensure the protection of our citizens and residents, particularly the most vulnerable elderly persons and those with debilitating co-morbidities.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! INTERNATIONAL ARENA
FATF’s Grey List
6. As you may be aware The Bahamas was put into the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) Grey List of countries with strategic deficiencies in June 2017 due to the adverse Mutual Evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (“CFATF”) which was completed in 2015
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