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The Caribbean Court of Justice |
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Written by Oscar Ramjeet
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
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Page 1 of 2 It seems that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which was on the back-burner for more than three years is no longer there, since it has been completely removed from the stove and is tuck away in some corner.
At least the leaders of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are more concerned about an OECS unity with the twin island republic than to initiate steps to remove the Privy Council as the final Court.
One wonders why so much time is being spent by Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Patrick Manning to jet to Jamaica, Bahamas, Belize and OECS to sensitize the leaders on his wider OECS initiative rather than to move to join the CCJ as the final court and encourage the OECS states to do likewise.
Moreover, more attention is being paid to the implications of the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) as to whether or not Caribbean countries should sign.
It was Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, the two largest English speaking countries in the region which were at the forefront for the regional court and both countries now seem to have little or no interest. I recall in 1990, while I was Solicitor General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines the late Selwyn Richardson who was the Attorney General of the twin island republic and Bryn Pollard, former Legal Advisor to CARICOM journeyed to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to woo the James Mitchell government to join the Court, now after nearly 18 years only two countries Barbados and Guyana enjoy the benefits of the Appellate Division of the CCJ.
Why? Is it that the governments are reluctant to take steps to put the mechanism in place to remove the Privy Council as the final court, be it by way of referenda or two thirds or three-fourths of parliamentary votes as the case may be, or they do not want to confront the electorates?
It seems to me that the governments will have to woo the opposition to support the move, but they are hesitant to do so. It should be noted that there have been changes in the administration of most countries in the region since the idea of setting up of the court was conceived.
Besides David Thompson of Barbados there are at least four other Prime Ministers who are lawyers, Hubert Ingraham of Bahamas, Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the two new leaders, Dean Barrow of Belize and Tillman Thomas of Grenada and they should work assiduously to rid the Privy Council as the final Court. The region does not only need political independence but it is high time the Caribbean adopt a parochial approach to the development of Caribbean jurisprudence.
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