Nassau, The Bahamas. Under the auspices of the Council of Legal Education, GrahamThompson Consultant Counsel, Sean McWeeney, KC, delivered the 17th Annual Dr. Lloyd Barnett Distinguished Lecture.
Mr. McWeeney presented “Historical Reflections on the Evolution of The Bahamian Judiciary”.
The lecture was a fascinating snapshot of contributions of some of the most influential personalities, reforms and policy measures that shaped what Mr. McWeeney described as a period of “immensely transformative, even convulsive change for The Bahamas”.
Mr. McWeeney provided insights into the evolution of the basic structure of The Bahamas’ legal and judicial systems. Notably the General Court, which became the Supreme Court, under the Supreme Court Act, 1896.
He also highlighted what he termed, “the historical phenomenon of judicial exporting from The Bahamas”.
The Bahamas had emerged from a bar of just eight to ten lawyers in the late 18th century, and a system where high court judges and even the Attorney General were not trained lawyers, to achieve critical growth in standards of lawyering and judging, and expansive growth in numbers such that the colony, by the 19th century, became, as McWeeney explained, “an exporter of native judicial talent to other jurisdictions”. This he said included not only the British Colonial Caribbean but also “outposts of the British empire in Europe and Asia”.
Mr. McWeeney provided “biographical details of some of the more interesting personalities” that framed this era.
He reflected on an historical evolution beginning with the 1787 arrival in The Bahamas of Loyalist William Wylly (1757 – 1828) and the markedly transformative influence of his monograph “A Short Account of The Bahama Islands”. A searing account of the state of the judiciary and the rule of law in The Bahamas at the time.
He discussed some of the challenges surrounding the growth and evolution of the judiciary over the years, against the backdrop of defining political, social and economic change. He highlighted and discussed the underpinnings of key historical milestones, like the first indigenous Bahamian Chief Justice and influences surrounding the viability of a career in high judicial office in The Bahamas.
In Mr. McWeeney’s final reflections in the lecture, he turned his attention to The Bahamas’ only two constitutional referenda (2002 and 2016). Both had failed. The referenda each took place during the closing period of respective government administration’s term in office.
The “risk of referendum defeat” he underscored as a key lesson learned, “increases in symmetrical alignment with the government’s increasing unpopularity in the country”. He surmised that “proposed constitutional changes, however inoffensive they may be, become conflated in the electorate’s mind, and become”, he concluded, “a casualty of, completely unrelated grievances against the government”.
Mr. McWeeney assessed the referenda as “bad timing, populist bandwagoning”. Adding that “packing too many disparate issues into the menu can easily derail the best laid plans of mice and men”.
Mr. McWeeney, a former Chairman of the Constitutional Commission (2012 to 2017), offered the following considerations for constitutional change:
The 17th Annual Dr. Lloyd Barnett Distinguished Lecture was presented on September 4th, at the Eugene Dupuch Law School. It was the opening event of The Bahamas’ three-day hosting of the 56thMeeting of the Council of Legal Education from September 4 – 6, 2025.
Download the full lecture here, Historical Reflections on the Evolution of The Bahamian Judiciary.
Nassau, The Bahamas. Under the auspices of the Council of Legal Education, GrahamThompson Consultant Counsel, Sean McWeeney, KC, delivered the 17th Annual Dr. Lloyd Barnett Distinguished Lecture.
Mr. McWeeney presented “Historical Reflections on the Evolution of The Bahamian Judiciary”.
The lecture was a fascinating snapshot of contributions of some of the most influential personalities, reforms and policy measures that shaped what Mr. McWeeney described as a period of “immensely transformative, even convulsive change for The Bahamas”.
Mr. McWeeney provided insights into the evolution of the basic structure of The Bahamas’ legal and judicial systems. Notably the General Court, which became the Supreme Court, under the Supreme Court Act, 1896.
He also highlighted what he termed, “the historical phenomenon of judicial exporting from The Bahamas”.
The Bahamas had emerged from a bar of just eight to ten lawyers in the late 18th century, and a system where high court judges and even the Attorney General were not trained lawyers, to achieve critical growth in standards of lawyering and judging, and expansive growth in numbers such that the colony, by the 19th century, became, as McWeeney explained, “an exporter of native judicial talent to other jurisdictions”. This he said included not only the British Colonial Caribbean but also “outposts of the British empire in Europe and Asia”.
Mr. McWeeney provided “biographical details of some of the more interesting personalities” that framed this era.
He reflected on an historical evolution beginning with the 1787 arrival in The Bahamas of Loyalist William Wylly (1757 – 1828) and the markedly transformative influence of his monograph “A Short Account of The Bahama Islands”. A searing account of the state of the judiciary and the rule of law in The Bahamas at the time.
He discussed some of the challenges surrounding the growth and evolution of the judiciary over the years, against the backdrop of defining political, social and economic change. He highlighted and discussed the underpinnings of key historical milestones, like the first indigenous Bahamian Chief Justice and influences surrounding the viability of a career in high judicial office in The Bahamas.
In Mr. McWeeney’s final reflections in the lecture, he turned his attention to The Bahamas’ only two constitutional referenda (2002 and 2016). Both had failed. The referenda each took place during the closing period of respective government administration’s term in office.
The “risk of referendum defeat” he underscored as a key lesson learned, “increases in symmetrical alignment with the government’s increasing unpopularity in the country”. He surmised that “proposed constitutional changes, however inoffensive they may be, become conflated in the electorate’s mind, and become”, he concluded, “a casualty of, completely unrelated grievances against the government”.
Mr. McWeeney assessed the referenda as “bad timing, populist bandwagoning”. Adding that “packing too many disparate issues into the menu can easily derail the best laid plans of mice and men”.
Mr. McWeeney, a former Chairman of the Constitutional Commission (2012 to 2017), offered the following considerations for constitutional change:
The 17th Annual Dr. Lloyd Barnett Distinguished Lecture was presented on September 4th, at the Eugene Dupuch Law School. It was the opening event of The Bahamas’ three-day hosting of the 56thMeeting of the Council of Legal Education from September 4 – 6, 2025.
Download the full lecture here, Historical Reflections on the Evolution of The Bahamian Judiciary.
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