'The Constitution and You: Barbados' by W. Leroy Inniss

• Author: Albert K. Fiadjoe
• Position: Senior Lecturer and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies
• Pages: 135-141

BOOK REVIEWS

'The

Constitution

and

You:

Barbados'

by W. Leroy Inniss

[UWI/USAID Caribbean Justice

Improvement Project, 1991, 77 pp.]

Public interest in constitutional adjudication took a leap from the heights

recently in Barbados, especially with the case of Gladwyn Ophelia King v.

Attorney-General of Barbados, popularly known as 'the 8% Salary Cut

Case.' But for another entirely unconnected reason, the heightened interest

in the Constitution of Barbados is easily explained. The Constitution of

Barbados is just slightly over 25 years old. It was about time to test and

question its fundamentals and to assess its responsiveness to societal needs.

Several issues of general concern have been raised from time to time about

the suitability of the inherited Westminster export constitution. Some of

such issues touch and concern the state of the nation's laws, the functioning

of the parliamentary system, the role of the sovereign and the judicial

system. In short, is the Constitution adequate to meet the present and future

challenges of Barbadian society?

To address any of these issues in a meaningful way, a minimum

prerequisite lies in some basic knowledge of the Constitution. A constitution

is a living document and its application and interpretation, both in its letter

and spirit, must reflect the felt necessities of our time. There is a body of

respectable opinion to which this writer subscribes which says that the best

bulwark against arbitrary and reprehensible government is a secure

foundation in the rule of law as enshrined in the Constitution. It is submitted

then that the appearance of Mr. Inniss's book at this time is most propitious

and timely.

This book is one of a series which was published under the auspices of

the Case Reports/Textbooks Fund of the UWI-USAID Caribbean Justice

Improvement Project.

Mr. Inniss's book, as the title suggests, is aimed at the "ordinary citizen".

In his own words,

"It is meant to provide a guide for the student and the layman by

spelling out in non-technical terms the responsibilities and

guarantees outlined in the Constitution of Barbados."

*

The justification for the book is that