Constitution Amendment Order 2000 Layed On Table
Chief Minister and Minister of Finance Hon. Ralph T. O'Neal, during the last Legislative Session on June 6, laid on the table the Constitution Amendment Order 2000, making it a public document.
The Order provides for the definition of a person who is deemed to belong to the Virgin Islands. It says in section 2 (d) that a person is deemed to belong to the VI who is born outside the VI of a father or mother who is a British Dependent Territories Citizen by virtue of birth in the VI. The Order also abolishes the attainment of automatic belongership if a non-belonger woman marries a British Virgin Islander man, for it states in clause 2 (g) that a person is a spouse of a person deemed to belong to the VI and has been granted a certificate under Section 16 of the Immigration and Passport Act, 1977 or any enactment amending, replacing or re-enacting the same. Before laying the Order on the table Mr. O'Neal cited some of the shortcomings of the Order stating that the Government was not satisfied with the findings of the 1993 Constitutional Commission that said it was not necessary to have five ministers although the majority of the elected representatives of the people had made strong recommendations. He also thanked those persons who assisted in getting the Order made, including the late Alan Hoole, who was the Constitutional Adviser for the Overseas Territories.