The Grenada Bar Association (GBA) says it believes that certain sections of the 2013 Data Protection Bill need to be amended because they are “overbroad” and could result in “constitutional breaches”.
The bill was approved by the Lower House last week after some amendments and will go before the Senate on March 29.
The GBA held a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the bill, which the main opposition New National Party (NNP) said needed to be the subject of a national consultation before being fully approved by Parliament.
GBA president Derick Sylvester said concerns were expressed about the role and function of the authorized officer as well as a definition for the position as written in the bill.
“The ambit via which authorized officers are circumscribed, so in other words, who are authorized officers. There are other sections of the bill that attorneys felt need clarity, for example, they are of the view that for personal data, the definition for personal data should be expanded to include facial and other data live features.”
“Members had concerns in relations to the ambit of the executive of the warrant and whether or not that section is overbroad and it could lead to constitutional breaches,” he said.
Sylvester said for numerous parts of the bill, attorneys are off the view that they should be reviewed, adding that the GBA executive is in the process of preparing a dossier to be forwarded to the Attorney General.
He said the lawyers also want to see the regulations for the application of the law be approved at the same time the law is receiving approval from the Parliament.
“The regulation of any law is very important, so we want the regulation to also be part of the bill,” he said.
The 2023 Data Protection Bill according to the explanatory notes is seeking to establish a new framework for managing the processing of personal data in Grenada.
The former attorney general and constitutional expert, Dr. Francis Alexis, speaking on a television program here over the weekend, called for some clauses of the bill to be revisited, while the Independent Caucus for Constitution Reform (ICCR) expressed concern with some clauses.
However, the government said that it must become law so that it can enforce two projects that will result in an injection of US$24 million into the economy.
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