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Registrar General need not be a lawyer
by Lindsay Thompson
Posted: Oct 22, 2009 18:39 UTC
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NASSAU, Bahamas – The Registrar General of the Courts does not have to be a lawyer, a bill passed by Members of Parliament stated.
According to the amendment to the Registrar General Act, a person who holds a Master of Business Administration or is trained in Public Administration may hold the post.As a result of this decision, “a far-reaching amendment” will be required to the Magistrates Act, according to the Hon Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.
He opened debate on the measure in the House of Assembly, October 15. This moves follows other Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago where similar provisions exist, Mr Symonette said. “The registration of public records is an essential administrative function of any country and The Bahamas is no exception,” said Mr Symonette.
In The Bahamas it dates back to the late 19th century with the creation of the Office of the Register of Records, he said.
With the introduction of the Registrar General Act in 1914, the departments of the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the Registrar of Records were amalgamated under the control and management of the Registrar Council.
Section 4 of the Registrar General Act stipulates that “No person shall be appointed Registrar General unless he is a member of at least five years standing of the English, Irish, Scottish, or Bahamas Bar or of the Bar of any British Colony to which a member of the Bahamas Bar is admitted without examination.
”The Act was amended in 1926 but still required that the Registrar General be an attorney-at -law.
“Because the Registrar General had to be an attorney-a-law what remained unchanged was that a person could only be appointed to the post of Registrar General by the Governor-General on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission,” Mr. Symonette explained.
The Registrar General has responsibilities and duties under the Magistrates Act, the Notaries Public Act, the Marriage Act, the Companies Act, the International Business Act, the Exempted Limited Partnership Act, the Friendly Societies Act, the Co-operative Societies Act, the Trade Marks Act, the Copyrights Act, the Registration of Business Names Act, the Foundations Act, the Stamp Act, the Quieting Titles Act, the Births and Deaths Registration Act and the Registration of Records Act.
“My Government is now of the view, that the post of Registrar General need not be filled by an attorney-at-law,” Mr Symonette said.
While the amendment seeks to remove the specific statutory requirement that the Registrar General be a lawyer, it does not follow that a lawyer cannot be appointed to the post, rather that the post of Registrar General can be filled by a person other than a lawyer, he explained.
The amendment also seeks to provide for the holder of such post to be appointed by the Governor-General in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission.
It further provides for the appointment of a Deputy Registrar General and an Assistant Registrar General
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