Marion Bethel is currently practicing law in the areas of Conveyances and Mortgages, Companies and Probate.  She specializes in representing purchasers and vendors as well as mortgagors and mortgagees in regard to commercial and residential property in securing financial transactions. In 2006 Ms. Bethel collaborated with another law firm in regard to the purchase of the Baha Mar properties.

Ms. Bethel began her career at the Office of the Attorney General in the areas of criminal and civil law. She later became Senior Crown Counsel and worked exclusively in the Civil Department of the Office.

Experience

During the ten year period at the Office of the Attorney General Ms. Bethel gained in-depth experience in representing and advising government ministries and departments. Further, on behalf of the government, Ms. Bethel participated as a Member of the Group of Experts in meetings at the Organisation of American States concerning both the Inter-American Commission on women (CIM) and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. In both instances, her work involved discussion and drafting of Model Regulations for that Commission.

Ms. Bethel was a Board Member of the Securities Commission of The Bahamas from 2012 to 2017 where she gained extensive knowledge concerning this regulatory body.  Over the past four years since 2017, Ms. Bethel has been engaged in human rights work at the United Nations High Commission for Human rights as an Expert Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Qualifications

Education

McGill University, Montreal, Quebec,
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Spanish

Teachers College, Columbia University
Master of Arts (Curriculum & Teaching)

Wolfson College, Cambridge University
Bachelor of Arts (Law)
Master of Arts (Law)

Council of Legal Education, London, England
Certificate of Legal Education

Bar Admissions

The Bahamas Bar
Bar of England and Wales

Appointments & Public Office

• University of the West Indies, Open Campus, Council Member, June 2015 to present. Barbados, W.I.
• Securities Commission of The Bahamas, Board Member, June 2012 to June 2017. Nassau, Bahamas
• United Nations, Convention on The Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Committee Member, January 2017 to December 2020. Geneva, Switzerland

Professional Associations

The Bahamas Bar Association, Nassau, Bahamas
Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London, England

Publications

“The Criminalisation of Marital Rape and Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Across The Commonwealth”, Equality & Justice Alliance and Sisters for Change, United Kingdom 2019