Constitutional developments in colonial British Guiana: From Dutch inherited system to Crown Colony Government

(Part 1)

By Tota C. Mangar
( Articles of Capitulation on which a country is surrendered, and the peace by which it is ceded, are sacred and inviolable according to their true interest and meaning)

Introduction
  The  former Dutch Colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice were finally ceded to the British through conquest in 1803. Formal cession was effected by the 1814 Treaty of Paris and in 1831 the three colonies were united into the “Colony of British Guiana” with Sir Benjamin D’Urban as its first Governor.

As a consequence the British inherited the Dutch System of government – a system which was to remain in force for a long time. Such a situation was allowed to persist largely through Article One of the 1803 Capitulation Treaty which stated that the colonists were to retain the existing laws, customs and political institutions. This in effect meant that “the laws and usages of the Colony shall remain in force and be respected, the mode of taxation be adhered to and that no new establishments should be introduced without the consent of the Court of Policy as the Legislature of the Colony.” A rather strict interpretation of this peculiar provision leads to the conclusion that the Crown “had precluded itself from exercising any right, which under English law she was entitled to exercise, in relation to conquered territories, and that the Crown had no authority to legislate for Guyana.” No doubt, it was the very nature of the inheritance that assured planter class dominance of political power and which led to our constitution being referred to as “unique in the Empire.”…..