|
THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF AFRICAN PEOPLE
Invites you to
“WE, THE PEOPLE….
CONSTITUTION MAKING
IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
An International Conference
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
March 30–31, 2007
SPEAKERS
- THE HON. PATRICK MANNING, Prime Minister of Trinidad and
Tobago
- THE HON. ORVILLE LONDON, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House
of Assembly
- ANHIL AMAR, Professor, Yale Law School, and author of
America’s Constitution: A Biography
- MARGARET BURNHAM, Professor, Northeastern School of Law and
director of Northeastern University Project on Civil Rights and
Restorative Justice
- DR. LLOYD BARNETT, O.J., and author of The Constitutional
Law of Jamaica (1977)
- DR. VLADIMIR AGUILAR, Professor, University of Los Andes
(Venezuela) and Director, Political and Social Training Center
of Latin America (CEPSAL)
- HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University
Professor and director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute of
African and African American Research, Harvard University
- SIMEON C. R. MCINTOSH, Professor of Jurisprudence; Dean of
the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies; and author of
Caribbean Constitution Reform: Rethinking West Indian Polity
(2002)
- DANA S. SEETAHAL, SC, Independent Senator, Trinidad and
Tobago Senate
- LOUIS LEE SING, Chairman, Citadel Limited (Trinidad)
- SELWYN RYAN, Professor Emeritus, University of the West
Indies and member of the Constitutional Committee (Trinidad and
Tobago)
- DOUGLAS L. MENDES, SC, Lecturer, Constitutional Law,
University of the West Indies
- CRAIG MURPHY, Historian of the United Nations Development
Programme and Professor of International Relations, Wellesley
College
- J. A. GEORGE IRISH, Professor and executive director,
Caribbean Research center, MedgarEvers College (CUNY)
CO-SPONSORS
W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American
Research, Harvard University; Newhouse Center for the Humanities,
Wellesley College; Africana Studies Department, Wellesley College;
COSTAATT (College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of
Trinidad and Tobago); Citadel Limited (i95fm), Research Center,
Medgar Evers College (CUNY).
Venues
Thursday, March 29: Mt. Irving Bay Hotel, Tobago; Friday, March
30: La Joya, St. Joseph, Trinidad; Saturday, March 31, La Joya, St.
Joseph, Trinidad
Admission
Adults: $50; Students: $35
For further information, please call Selwyn R. Cudjoe
781-237-2230; 781-249-4075; Africana Studies, Wellesley College,
781-283-2563; or NAEAP 868-674-1345.
| In her article “Indigenous Constitutionalism and the
Death Penalty: The Case of the Commonwealth Caribbean,”
Margaret Burnham, Law Professor at Northeastern
University School of Law, argues that constitutions
created in the Commonwealth Caribbean in the wake of
independence in the 1960s “were neither original nor
indigenous. Rather, like independence itself, they were
not only bestowed on the new state by the colonial power
but were superimposed on existing legal structures,
themselves transplanted to serve colonial interests.”
She claims that these constitutions simply “preserved
much of the colonial legal system.” In the case of
Trinidad and Tobago, in an effort to erase “the
autochthony dilemma” (or the authenticity of these
constitutions), this country adopted a republican
constitution in 1976 that changed little from its
Independence constitution. Another important aspect of
our constitution-making process involves the
relationship between Trinidad and Tobago. Over the
past year, Trinidad and Tobago has been discussing a
proposed constitution to supersede its republican
constitution that it adopted in 1976. To assist in
furthering this discussion, the National Association for
the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP), together with
other institutions (see co-sponsors), will conduct a
three-day conference at Mt. Irving Bay Hotel, Tobago,
and La Joya Conference Hall, St. Joseph, Trinidad, on
March 29-31, to examine various aspects of the
constitution-making process, the role of people (that
is, the sovereignty of people in this process) in the
construction of the constitution, the relationship of
this document to other such documents, how this document
enhances our democratic way of life, and how we can make
it a model document, nationally and internationally.
We will devote the first day, Thursday, March 29, to
a discussion of the challenges of unitary statehood and
the relationship between the central government and the
Tobago House of Assembly. Friday, March 30, will be
devoted to a round table discussion in Trinidad with
about eight participants who will be asked to address
several pre-arranged questions. This session is aimed
mostly at high school, university, and law students to
encourage a rigorous discussion of the issues involved
in constructing an indigenous constitution and a mode of
discourse around issues such as these. Attendance at
this session is by invitation only. Students invited to
attend will be asked to complete readings prior to the
session.
The third day of the conference, Saturday, March 31,
is open to the general public. Guest speakers will share
their thoughts, and members of the audience will have a
chance to pose questions and have them answered.
Attendees will have access to the same readings that the
students discussed. Such a process would allow for a
more meaningful discussion.
The conference proceedings will be recorded and
presented to the Trinidad and Tobago government to
assist in the ongoing constitutional discussion. |
|
