AG Says State of Emergency Can Be Lifted Before 30 Days

Michael Peyrefitte

The legal parameters, as well as the technical details of the state of emergency, are being fine-tuned ahead of the Governor General’s assent to bring it into force.  That declaration should be signed at the latest by Wednesday morning.  The comprehensive nature of the latest statutory instrument takes into consideration the existing situation in San Pedro and will override the present S.I. governing the movement of persons on the island town.  The state of emergency, however, can be lifted prior to its thirty day expiry if government is able to get a handle on the COVID-19 situation before then.

Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General

“The new proclamation that should come out sometime later today or at the latest, tomorrow morning, along with the regulations will be the only ones that will exist for the entire country.  These new regulations and the new proclamation will also apply to San Pedro which, as everybody knows, has its own state of emergency.  But since we are doing one for the entire country now, there is no need for doing one just for San Pedro.  The rules and regulations that we’ll be putting down will apply to everyone, we’re including San Pedro.  We’re still finalizing them, as the prime minister said, because in fairness we gave the CEOs and the opposition at around ten or eleven last night we gave them the documentation and this morning we had some responses, including the response from the legal advisor to the Leader of the Opposition so we have to incorporate all of those and to ensure that both parties are satisfied with what we plan to produce as the new set of regulations that will govern the state of emergency.  But I think there are some basic premises that I think will be established and I don’t see any difference of positions when it comes to fundamental issues that will govern the state of emergency and the first one is that a curfew will be imposed for the entire country during the period of public emergency which could, as the Leader of the Opposition said, which could last for the full thirty days or if we believe we have a handle on the situation, it could be reduced.”