National

PM And AG: Citizenship Laws Will Be Fair For All

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – After years of back and forth on the issue, the Privy Council finally handing down a ruling on the controversial citizenship issue making way for Bahamian men to pass citizenship on to their children out of wedlock, even if the mother is a foreigner.

Published

2 years ago

May 4, 2023

Berthony McDermott

The Privy Council has ruled that all children born out of wedlock to foreign women and Bahamian men are citizens at birth.

The ruling comes as many have been plagued with having to apply at the age of 18 and in some instances wait decades to obtain citizenship.

The Privy Council upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, which upheld an earlier decision of now Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder, whose ruling was also supported by the Court of Appeal.

One legal insider saying it shows the competence of Bahamian judges and their ability to properly ventilate legal issues.

In a statement Prime Minister Philip Davis expressing support and committing to ensuring the country’s laws and policies are fair and just for all.

He says, ” the privy council decision marks an important step towards ensuring equal citizenship rights for all children, irrespective of their parents marital status. It is expected to impact the lives of many individuals in our nation positively.”

Meanwhile, Attorney General Ryan Pinder releasing a statement of his own saying: “the Attorney General’s Office will work diligently to ensure the implementation of the Privy Council decision and to review the existing citizenship legislation in light of this new development.”

Attorney Bjorn Ferguson telling Our News that following the ruling, lawmakers should treat matters like this with urgency.

Following the landmark ruling, residents took to social media.

This resident says, “rightfully so about time they start getting stuff right. Now let’s do something with Bahamian citizens not being allowed to gamble in hotel casinos.”

Another said, “I was always amazed at how backward we are in our citizenship history, this just makes common sense.”

Then this woman asked… “so what about the women? What about the children born to Bahamian women or are we second class citizens?”