ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we shall consider developments of constitutional significance which have taken place in Dominica, St Lucia and St Vincent since the 1960s. In each of these territories, which became independent between 1978 and 1979, there was civil commotion of one kind or another shortly after independence. In Dominica, the civil unrest was much more serious and sustained than in the other two territories; and, in addition, external elements played a much larger role than in either of the other two. In St Lucia, the political difficulties stemmed mainly from a leadership struggle within the governing party, whereas in St Vincent the civil disorder took the form of a short-lived ‘minirebellion’ which occurred in one of its dependencies. We shall now examine in turn the problems which each territory experienced.
