(Barbados Today) Exactly a week before Barbados transitions to a republic, a new Charter of Barbados was presented to Parliament that, while not legally binding, outlines citizens’ rights and responsibilities.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who moved a resolution to take note of and approve the Charter of Barbados on Tuesday, stressed that the document promotes the concept of active citizenship and is a guide for how people should treat each other and the country, but is not a constitution, the preamble to a new or the existing constitution, or a legal document.
“It is a document, however, that reflects how the majority feel, but that is committed to the protection of all, not just the majority, because the role of a government is to confer the benefits of the protection of the rule of law, the precepts of fairness, on its people while insisting that order remain to avoid anarchy,” she added.
“The one major departure of this charter from the Constitution that currently exists and the other things that we have done as an independent nation is that there is no document that says to Barbadians that you have not only rights but you also have a duty to take care of each other and you have a duty to take care of this nation and you have a duty to participate in the affairs or nation-building as a form of active citizenship.
