Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator Michael Barnett the keynote speaker at the the Inter-American Bar Association XLV Conference is pictured with representatives of the IABA. Pictured from left are George Harper, incoming IABA president; Cathy Hassan, newly elected vice president, Bahamas Bar Council; Jorge De Presno Arizpe, IABA president; Governor General, His Excellency Arthur Hanna; Attorney General Barnett; Dr Peter Maynard, chairman host committee; and Mariana C. Cordier, secretary general.

Nassau, Bahamas – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator Michael Barnett urged lawyers to continue to invest in the institutions of the administration of justice.  

“The rule of law is at the cornerstone of our societies,” said Senator Barnett. “If we fail to strengthen it, our efforts at development will be crippled and our societies will degenerate into the law of military might.  

“That is why my government is committed to investing in the infrastructure of the courts and a vigorous program of law reform.”  

The Attorney General was the keynote speaker at the opening of the Inter-American Bar Association IABA XLV Conference at Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino, July 1.  

The five-day conference was held in The Bahamas for the first time. The theme was ‘The World Financial Crisis: What does the Future Hold?’  

Mr. Barnett told the delegates that although they represented different countries with varied systems of law, they have more in common than otherwise.  

“No one country or no one person has all of the answers and the answers are not always obvious,” he said. “It is through a healthy exchange of ideas and honest and frank discussions about our own individual experiences that we can benefit and come up with suggestions that advance our causes.”  

Mr. Barnett suggested that most of the “chronic” problems that affected societies “immediately” prior to the economic downturn in 2008 will “continue” when the world recovers from the present financial meltdown.  

“We will continue to have to confront the problems of crime and the problems that affect the administration of justice,” said Mr. Barnett.  

“We will continue to have to confront the problems of drugs, ammunition and human trafficking. We will continue to have to face the problems of the environment and the continued cost of health care.  

“Obviously, we must take and have taken urgent steps to ameliorate the immediate effect of this financial crisis.”  

The global economic crisis demands “unprecedented initiatives” to restore growth but remain focused on the human issues, he said.  

He outlined incentives that the Government has developed to ensure that citizens are not “terribly disadvantaged” by the economic crisis  

Among the initiatives are assistance with utility bills, increases in social benefits assistance, and unemployment assistance.  

The current economic crisis, he said, is an opportunity to lay firmer foundations for the long-term success of societies.  

To this end noted, Mr. Barnett, the Government is investing in public infrastructure and its people.  

He pointed to the current roadwork in New Providence, dredging of Nassau Harbor, and reconstruction of the Lynden Pindling International Airport.  

The Bahamas, he said, accepts that there are changing international standards of best practices in the delivery of financial services.  

“We are fully committed to adhere to these best practices and we will continue to enact legislation to give statutory effect to them.”  

The Bahamas will continue to participate fully in the work of the Financial Action Task Force and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, he said.  

“We are fully committed to international cooperation to eliminate the laundering of proceeds of criminal activity.  

“We have subscribed to the international conventions design to combat the most evil of modern day criminal activity, the trafficking of drugs, guns and ammunition, and now human beings.”  

Financial centres, like The Bahamas, “cannot permit their institutions to be used to facilitate criminal activity or to launder the proceeds of criminal activity,” he said.  

The IABA was founded on May 16, 1940 by a group of lawyers and jurists representing 44 professional organizations and 17 nations of the Western Hemisphere.