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Turks and Caicos constitution suspended as UK resumes direct rule

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Gordon Wetherell issued an order Friday suspending the British Overseas Territory's constitution and submitting to direct rule by the UK after being directed to do so by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The FCO move follows a May 31 report compiled by the TCI Commission of Inquiry led by Sir Robin Auld to Wetherell documenting widespread corruption among government officials, including former TCI Chief Minister Michael Misick, and recommending direct rule and the appointment of an independent prosecutor. Until Friday, the UK had not imposed direct rule on a territory since 1986, when it previously imposed direct rule on TCI over government misconduct. Ousted Premier Galmo Williams decried the UK takeover as a "coup" and claimed the "country is being invaded and re-colonized by the United Kingdom, dismantling a duly elected government and legislature and replacing it with a one man dictatorship, akin to that of the old Red China, all in the name of good governance." Martin Stanley has been appointed as TCI's new chief executive. Wetherell refused to call the imposition of direct rule a "takeover," and said he expects elections in the island nation by 2011, an expectation echoed by FCO Minister Chris Bryant. Friday's order was made possible when, on Wednesday, London's Court of Appeal rejected former Chief Minister Misick's claim that a proposed takeover would violate EU law. Misick resigned in March following the publication of an Interim Report by the Inquiry Commission which accused Misick of corruption. The Inquiry Commission was established in July 2008 after media reports of corruption in TCI. TCI have had self-government since 1976, but plans for full independence have been abortive. Island politicians have several times considered and/or proposed union with Canada; the east coast province of Nova Scotia most recently floated the idea in 2004.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 15, 2009 (boomark / email).