Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis was asked for comment on the recent ruling of the Privy Council on the citizenship of children born in The Bahamas to single Bahamian fathers and foreign mothers.
Davis said, “the presumption that if there’s a birth certificate that has the father’s name on it there’s a presumption that he is the father. But there are a lot of issues that has to be worked out. What happens now is that if you are born in The Bahamas and you’re able to demonstrate that your father is a Bahamian then you’ll need to apply to become a citizen. You are automatically a citizen and you just need to apply for your passport and evidence of it if you think you need it. But quite apart from that once you can demonstrate that your father is your father and your father knows.”
The Prime Minister was also asked about the impact of the ruling on his administration’s legislative agenda. He said, “we’re awaiting some advice from the Attorney General’s Office on where we are going. I know his office is looking at what steps should be taken going forward. But that’s not a priority at this time because you have the court ruling and the court ruling right now settles what the law is.”
The Privy Council upheld a ruling by Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder in the case of the Attorney General v Shannon Tyreck Rolle and 4 others.
