Anguilla House of Assembly endorses new Code of Conduct and Register of Interests
The Anguilla House of Assembly passed a motion approving a new Code of Conduct and Register of Interests for Members on 28 March 2023.
The motion, presented by Hon. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, acknowledged ‘the community’s expectations of high standards from their elected representatives as well as the desire of Members of this honourable House to enhance propriety and to strengthen the community’s trust in the Assembly’.
The Code of Conduct and Register of Interests:
- requires Members of the House of Assembly to abide by the principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership
- establishes the position of Commissioner of Standards
- outlines a process for dealing with breaches of the Code, including sanctions
- requires Members to submit a Declaration of Interests and defines Conflicts of Interest
The Code of Conduct and Register of Interests were developed by the Administration Committee of the Anguilla House of Assembly with support from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) through a Technical Assistance Programme.
The process of introducing a Code of Conduct and Register of Interests began in April 2020, when the CPA published the 'Final Report on the CPA Benchmarks Assessment for the Anguilla House of Assembly.' This report recommended that the House of Assembly develop these mechanisms to ‘contribute towards increasing public trust in the institution of Parliament’ and to ‘bring Anguilla in line with international best practice’.
Watch: Hon. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers introduces the motion in the Anguilla House of Assembly
To support implementation of the report’s recommendations, a CPA Technical Assistance Programme was designed in conjunction with the House of Assembly. The development of a Code of Conduct and Register of Interests was one of several activities outlined in the programme agreement. Other activities included a review of the Standing Orders, a Governance, Organisational and Administrative review and the development of outreach and educational resources for the House of Assembly.
In December 2022, Tom Duncan, Clerk of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, visited Anguilla to help draft the new Code of Conduct and Register of Interests, guided by the CPA’s Recommended Benchmarks for Codes of Conduct applying to Members of Parliament.
The Administration Committee discuss the Code of Conduct with Tom Duncan, Clerk of the ACT Legislative Assembly (middle, back)
Commenting on the new Code of Conduct and Register of Interests, Hon. Barbara Webster-Bourne, Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly, said:
“The unanimous endorsement of the Code of Conduct and Register of Interest by Members represents the commitment of the Assembly to the people of Anguilla to exercise principled, ethical and transparent governance.
We are appreciative of the partnership that we have forged over the years with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Headquarters (CPA HQ). The technical expertise provided by Tom Duncan of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, under the auspices of the CPA HQ, and the spirit in which it was delivered were an integral part of the process and its success. We look forward to building on that relationship.”
The report of the Administration Committee on the ‘Proposed Code of Conduct and Register of Interests for Members of the Anguilla House of Assembly’ was first laid before the House on 21 February 2023 before gaining unanimous approval on 28 March 2023. The approved motion instructed the Clerk of the House to begin work on operationalising the Code of Conduct and Register of Interests by 30 September 2023.
