BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MEMBERS of the law fraternity and the public in general are expected to reap numerous benefits from the recently-launched New Revised Edition of the Laws of St. Christopher and Nevis.
The launch of the 13-volume set took place at Government House on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 before His Excellency, the Governor-General Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas, Attorney-General the Hon. Patrice Nisbett, legal luminaries, civil servants and others.
President of the St. Kitts and Nevis Bar Association Charles Wilkin QC delivered brief comments at the launching ceremony, during which he highlighted some of the benefits.
The attorney, of in excess of 40 years, recalled that he spend numerous hours conducting research, which would had been otherwise spent had this compilation been available then.
“The release of the New Revised Edition of the Laws of St. Kitts and Nevis is a welcome relief to all legal practitioners and fills a yawning gap in our legal system. From a personal perspective, I wish I had back the thousands of extra hours which I have had to spend over my four decades of practice in searching for amendments to laws and for new laws. I might not have had to retire from cricket while still in my twenties. I do not think that I am exaggerating in saying that a lawyer (or attorney as we are now called) practicing in the next 40 years will spend a few years less at his desk than I have had to do to achieve the same work.
“I believe that it captures the importance to the legal profession of this event when I say that nightmares over whether or not you found the applicable law will be a thing of the past for old and young lawyers alike.”
The Queen’s Counsel expressed that the compilation, with further advancement, is expected to allow practicing lawyers more time to analyse the law but reducing research time.
“When the laws are available electronically (which I am reliably informed will be next year) and assuming that word searches will be possible, the task of the lawyer will be made even easier and less time consuming. More time can then be spent analysing the law than searching for it.”
Former Attorney-General and current General Counsel to the federal government Dr. Dennis Merchant was unable to attend the launching. He however explained that the benefits which are to be derived from the consolidation and publication of the Federation’s laws include the easy accessibility to the laws, reliability of the laws “in that the process has eliminated conflicting provisions within the laws” and “increased investor confidence and revenue which is to be earned upon sale of the laws”.
The consolidation of the Laws of St. Christopher and Nevis began in 2002 with the then Attorney-General, Ambassador Delano Bart, and concluded eight years after. The set contains all Laws of the Federation enforced as at December 2002 and, according to AG Nisbett, the compilation is expected to be updated regularly.
