By the Nassau Guardian From Caribbean News Now

NASSAU, Bahamas — Amid concerns expressed in various quarters that the recently tabled Interception of Communications Bill, 2017 (ICB) was unnecessary and would be an invasion of citizens’ privacy, Bahamas Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said in a statement on Monday night that the proposed legislation is a very important tool in the fight against crime, much of which is gang-related, transnational and involves guns and drugs.

Maynard-Gibson said: “Experts advise that without this crime fighting tool, drug trafficking, gun trafficking and other transnational and gang-related crime will increase, and the police will be hampered in their ability to detect and investigate crime and prosecute criminals.”

She said The Bahamas would join the worldwide community – including the United States, the United Kingdom, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and most recently St Kitts and Nevis – in enacting similar legislation permitting the lawful interception of communications.

“We, like they, are determined to combat the serious criminal and security threats facing our nations,” the attorney general said.

“The ICB recognizes that forms and modes of communications in today’s world are materially different from those contemplated in 1972, when the Listening Devices Act (LDA) was passed, and continue to rapidly change.

“The ICB will enable the police, with the permission of a Supreme Court judge, to lawfully intercept electronic communication of any kind, once certain clearly defined conditions are fulfilled.

“The ICB enhances protection of the privacy of law-abiding citizens because it is the Supreme Court (not the executive) that makes the determination that the communications may be intercepted.

“This is the first time that Bahamian law places this authority solely in the hands of the independent judiciary.

“The Supreme Court will ensure that adequate checks and balances are in place to protect rights of privacy on the one hand and combat crime (including cyber crime) on the other. Any suggestion that this is a ‘dangerous spying bill’ is false.”

On Sunday, Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) president Fred Smith said some civil rights organizations are working to form an alliance to oppose the bill, which he called “extreme and unnecessary”.

On Monday, the Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG) said the “quiet” tabling of the bill in the House of Assembly last Wednesday is deeply worrying, not only for its contentious content, but also for the manner in which it was introduced.

ORG said, “Openness, transparency, and freedom of association and expression are all cornerstones of a liberal democracy, and the process thus far has bucked these values.

“We urge the members of Parliament to stay this bill until all stakeholders can be educated on the contents of the bill and give appropriate feedback.”

The attorney general explained in her statement that the ICB is also the result of recent criticisms of the LDA by the Privy Council.

The first criticism was that permission to intercept communications should be granted by the Supreme Court and not the executive, she noted.

The second was addressed by the ICB providing for the destruction of records, when their purpose is spent.

Finally, the Privy Council specifically addressed the constitutionality of the LDA and suggested that “…the Bahamian legislature would wish to consider whether the scheme provided by the LDA should now be revisited and revised”.

In short, the Privy Council suggested that the Bahamian legislature take appropriate legislative action, which Parliament has now done with the introduction of the Interception of Communications Bill, 2017, which meets international standards, the attorney general said.

IMAGE: Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson

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