The CCJ: an example to Latin America | Sir Ronald Sanders

BY: SIR RONALD SANDERS Two events at the Organisation of American States (OAS) in recent months have underscored the soundness of the system by which the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is financed.  It is a tribute to Caribbean creativity and innovation that the CCJ is one of the few Courts in the world that does not depend on government contributions to function. The example that the CCJ represents should be replicated elsewhere, and the people of the 14-nation Caribbean Community countries should take pride in the inventiveness of Caribbean minds in structuring the funding of the Court. The two events at the OAS that highlighted the reliability of the mechanism for funding the CCJ are related to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights. Both organisations declared that they are strapped for cash and desperately need contributions from the 34-member states of the OAS to continue their functions.  The two bodies are important. They are dedicated to the protection of human rights within the Inter-American system. Eminent Caribbean jurists have served on the Commission where they have advanced causes to combat scourges such as racism and discrimination. But, the Commission - set up by the OAS in 1959 — released a statement earlier this week in which it said things are so bad that mass layoffs and cancelled visits are imminent and inevitable, unless member countries provide emergency donations. Remarkably, it was donors from European countries, not Latin American and Caribbean nations, that have been keeping the Commission alive through donations. The President of the Commission, James Cavallaro, said the crisis was sparked by these European donors cutting back because of the influx of refugees from Syria and elsewhere. According to Mr Cavallaro, the withdrawal of European money has exposed the reluctance of Latin American and Caribbean governments to come up with the cash that the commission needs. In a caustic but frank comment, he said, “Some countries feel uncomfortable when the Commission highlights the challenges the region faces in human rights. They strangle us financially, perhaps in order to stop us fulfilling our mandate.” At a meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS on 25 May only Panama, Costa Rica and Antigua and Barbuda offered to make immediate donations to the Commission. In the case of Antigua and Barbuda, I explained that Antigua and Barbuda greatly values the work of the Commission. I recalled the contribution made by my colleague, Sir Clare Roberts, when he served as a Commissioner, in ensuring that the rights of black people were specifically accepted as part of the Commission’s mandate as well as the obligation to tackle racism. I made the point that the reason that the Antigua and Barbuda government could not be more generous to the Commission is that, as a small state, we are marginalised by bigger and more powerful nations that deny us access to concessional financing for development; unfairly attack our financial services sector; treat us in world trade on the same terms as large countries such as the US, Canada, India and South Africa; and refuse to provide us adequate and affordable financing to combat the effects of Climate Change of which we are an innocent victim. Despite our own struggling circumstances, we made a voluntary contribution to the Commission as an example to other larger and richer countries of the importance of upholding and protecting human rights.  But, some Latin American governments dislike both the Commission and the Court, accusing them of being “political”. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, for instance, has dismissed criticism of his government’s legal pursuit of opposition leaders and general human rights record. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has also accused the body of “exceeding its authority” in its criticism of harassment of critical journalists who have criticised his regime. In the last two decades, the Commission has made ongoing efforts with the OAS Member States to secure a budget that would enable it to work effectively to fulfil its mandate. As a result of these efforts, the OAS General Assembly has approved a number of resolutions expressing a commitment to address the situation; however, these have not been reflected in a significant increase in resources. This situation is not surprising given the financial state of the OAS itself. Two of its largest member states are severely in arrears in their contributions to the Organisation and they vigorously resist any attempt to impose sanctions for non-payment. Indeed, the OAS is operating on a fictional budget that cannot realistically meet its costs of operation. In political organisations a financial crisis, while not sustainable, is bearable for a time. Not so with Courts and Commissions that are charged with upholding human rights and protecting minorities and the vulnerable. Thousands of victims of human rights violations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean would be left unprotected. That is why the CCJ model should be adopted by the OAS in relation to both the Court and the Commission. The CCJ is funded through an independent Trust Fund which was established with US $100 million from initial contributions of the member states through loans from the Caribbean Development Bank. Since its establishment in 2001, the Court’s expenditures have been met by the Fund, allowing it to function without having to go cap in hand to governments, and maintaining its flow of work in delivering justice. It is clear that some member governments of the OAS do not want an independent and functioning Court and Commission. It is up to others who believe in human rights and the rule of law to keep them from withering. The member states of the OAS that believe in democracy could do no better than to advance the adoption of the CCJ model for the Inter-American Court and the Inter-American Commission. In this, CARICOM has led the way – at least on sustainable funding. Source: http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/columns/caribbean-court-example-latin-america  (Sir Ronald Sanders is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organisation of American States. The views expressed are his own. Responses and previous commentaries:www.sirronaldsanders.com)

CCJ judge says criminal justice ‘broken’ in most Caribbean countries

A judge with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) says he believes that the criminal justice system in most, if not all Caribbean countries, is “broken”.

Addressing the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice and Magisterial Reform, under the Judicial Reform and Institutional Strengthening (JURIST) Project, Justice Adrian Saunders said, “it would probably be a fair characterisation to say that in most, if not all of our states, today, the criminal justice system is broken.

Justice Saunders told the two-day meeting that in one CARICOM (Caribbean Community) state, recently, a man who had been in custody for nine years on a murder charge had his case dismissed before the judge, who found that he had no case to answer.

“Nine years in custody; no case to answer,” Saunders emphasised, saying that in another case, a man had been charged with a fairly simple traffic offence and was adamant that he was not guilty.

There is no dispute about the facts, Justice Saunders told the audience, adding that the only issue is the legal interpretation of a very small section of the traffic law in that country, which he did not identify.

“The man and his lawyer interprets that section one way and the police interpret it another way,” the judge said.

He said the case has been going on for over two years and throughout that time, the accused person and his lawyer has been spending two to three “entirely unproductive hours in court only to be told that they must return the following month”.

Justice Saunders gave a third example, saying that judges at the CCJ recently heard an appeal in a case in which a man has been found guilty of rape and had been sentenced to jail.

“He appealed all the way up to us (CCJ). When we examined the documents in the appeal, we discovered that although the man was still in custody, he really should have been released sometime before, because he had already served his sentence,” Justice Saunders said.

“Each of you must have your own examples because these are not uncommon things that happen throughout the region,” he told the gathering, which included judges, directors of pubic prosecution and other members of the judicial system from across CARICOM.

“Frankly, viewed objectively, all of this amounts to an abuse of the people of the Caribbean, especially because it not only involves a massive wastage of time and resources, but it also implicates the liberty of the individual, in a context where there is very little accountability,” Saunders said.

“Caribbean people deserve a whole lot better and it is incumbent upon those who work in the justice sector to work towards its improvement.”

Justice Saunders, however, said that his comments are not to say that there are not valiant efforts being made at introducing very useful reform initiatives.

He said reform initiatives are underway in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and other countries.

“But, it is also true to note that criminal justice reform is not an easy task. It is certainly not as easy to accomplish as civil justice reform,” he said.

The Advisory Committee was established under the JURIST Project and is tasked with reviewing criminal justice and magisterial reform initiatives in the Caribbean and making recommendations for improving the quality of justice delivery and reducing delay in the criminal justice system.

The JURIST Project is a five-year regional Caribbean judicial reform initiative funded under an arrangement with the Government of Canada.

It is being implemented on behalf of Global Affairs Canada and the Conference of the Heads of Judiciary of CARICOM, by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which was appointed by the Conference as its Regional Executing Agency (REA).

The project is working with judiciaries in the region to support their own efforts to improve court administration and strengthen the ability of the courts and the judiciary to resolve cases efficiently and in a timely fashion.

Criminal Justice and Magisterial Reform falls under the project’s overarching goal of delay and backlog reduction in courts.

The project is currently being implemented in at least six countries but will be expanded to include other territories in the region.

Special attention will also be paid to building the capacity and skills of judges, court administrators and court personnel to deliver services that address the needs of women, men, girls and boys.

The Advisory Committee is comprised of a broad range of stakeholders from across the region and the criminal justice system including appellate and trial court judges, magistrates, Directors of Public Prosecutions, and a criminologist among others.

Source: http://www.nycaribnews.com/latest-news/ccj-judge-says-criminal-justice-%E2%80%98broken%E2%80%99-most-c%E2%80%99bean-countries

New CARICOM Chair, PM Dean Barrow shares plan

By Ingrid Fernandez, Staff Reporter

Prime Minister Dean Barrow took over the chairmanship of CARICOM this week, emphasizing on the major issues facing the Caribbean in the year to come.

Barrow expressed optimistism over the prospects the Caribbean has, amidst the economic crisis most Caribbean countries face. He stated the economic challenges might be “the sternest economic test that our member states have had to face in recent memory.”

He noted that elevating the standard of living of member states’ civilians has been a challenge for the region, as most countries have faced an increase in foreign debt and poverty this year.

Under his leadership, Barrow, hopes the Caribbean will build economic, environmental, social and technological resilience to foster sustainable development.

The Prime Minister’s priority is on the issue of consolidation and he expressed hope that during his year of leadership, the arrangements made for Caribbean unity will be revised with the hope of making them more effective. Regional unity continues as a resounding message for Caribbean leaders.

Barrow highlighted the achievements the region enjoyed, making reference to the success of the Caribbean’s input at the COP21 and other achievements over the past years. He said these are benchmarks in keeping together as a region.

The leader of the country also mentioned the importance of the Caribbean Court of Justice, especially to shape identity and regional unity. He says he believes that having a regional appellate reflects on the level of intellectuality in the Caribbean and the region’s ability to manage its own affairs.

Crime, Barrow stated, is one of the worst social ailments prevalent in the Caribbean. He assures that this year, the member states will implement new forms of dealing with crime, especially focusing on grassroots movements.

Barrow acknowledged the Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart’s guidance over the past year and resolved to continue strengthening Caribbean integration under his one year leadership.

Source: http://www.reporter.bz/general/new-caricom-chair-pm-dean-barrow-shares-plan/

Common Fisheries Policy for Caribbean approved as final policy

BELIZE CITY -  The Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), comprised of Ministers responsible for Agriculture from across the Caribbean Community, has confirmed the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy as a final policy document for the Community.

The Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP) is aimed at fostering greater harmonisation across the Caribbean in the sustainable management and development of the region’s fisheries and aquaculture resources, with special emphasis on promoting the most efficient use of shared resources while aiming to improve food security and reduce poverty in the region.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has said that CARICOM policies, once authorized by COTED, are binding on the countries. At its meeting held in Suriname last Friday, 10 October 2014, COTED gave its stamp of approval to the CCCFP and said that the newly authorized policy should be applied by Member States as far as possible. The formal signing of the CCCFP by member countries is expected to commence in the months ahead.

The recommendation to COTED came out of the 5th Special Meeting of the CRFM's Ministerial Council, held on Thursday, 9 October 2014, in Paramaribo, Suriname, coinciding with Caribbean Week of Agriculture. On that occasion, the CRFM’s Executive Director, Milton Haughton, presented a paper on First CARICOM Strategic Plan (2015 – 2019). The CARICOM Sec retariat and all other CARICOM Institutions along with the CARICOM countries will all be following a single plan for the first time following its approval by the Heads of Government in July 2014.

Strengthening Fisheries cooperation with French Caribbean

Apart from its endorsement of the CCCFP as a final policy document, COTED also endorsed the decision arising out of the 5th Special Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council, held the day before the COTED meeting, to strengthen cooperation between CARICOM/CRFM States and the French Départements Outre-Mer (DOMs) in the Caribbean, particularly Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana.

Since 2011, CRFM States have been discussing ways of improving cooperation with the French territories in the Caribbean, when the issue was discussed within the context of strengthening management and conservation of the Eastern Caribbean flyingfish fishery and combating IUU fishing in the region.

The initiative comes at a time when the CRFM has adopted the first regionally approved management plan for flyingfish, a known shared species that is harvested by up to seven countries in the Eastern Caribbean: six CARICOM States and Martinique. The flyingfish plan was approved by the CRFM in May 2014 and closer cooperation with the French will support its successful implementation and provide opportunities for further dialogue and collaboration on other challenges facing the fishing industry of the countries concerned.

Curaçao applies to join the CRFM

On 17 April 2014, Curaçao submitted its application for Associate Membership in the CRFM. The Ministerial Council, acting on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, supports the application of Curaçao to join the CRFM as an Associate Member.

Consequently, the Ministerial Council has authorized the CRFM Secretariat to commence the process of negotiating an Association Agreement with Curaçao, which should be finalized and ready for signature for the 9th Meeting of the Ministerial Council slated for April/May 2015.

The Ministerial Council is empowered to admit any State or Territory of the Caribbean Region as an Associate Member, providing the Ministerial Council is satisfied that the State or Territory is able and willing to discharge its obligations.

Expanding knowledge sharing using ICT technologies

Representatives of the CRFM countries and stakeholder organisations also discussed strategies for enhanced knowledge management and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for information sharing and cooperation in the fisheries sector as a way to improve the welfare and livelihood of fishers.

The issue was discussed at both the Executive Committee meeting and at a one-day workshop made possible through the CTA-funded Knowledge Platform Project. The workshop reviewed materials and strategies being used for communication among fisheries professionals and stakeholders in the fishing industries across the region and considered ways of improving the effort. The workshop also sought to strengthen the use of ICT in fisheries and identified ways to promote sharing of information and technology for improving participation of stakeholders in policy development and the management of fisheries.

CTA is the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (EU) which aims to improve food and nutritional security and encourage natural resource management in ACP countries.

At its subsequent meeting, the Ministerial Council underscored the need for countries to use modern ICT tools to enhance policy dialogue and the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of programmes and activities within the fisheries sector. The Council expressed its support for the regional fisheries workshop on promoting blue growth, scheduled for 20 to 21 November 2014 in Grenada.

Update on Case 21 to tackle IUU fishing

In relation to developments in international fisheries law, the CRFM’s Ministerial Council welcomed the ongoing deliberations by the International Tribunal on the Laws of the Seas (ITLOS), to clarify international law on matters such as flag state responsibility and liability in the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU ) fishing.

Legal counsel for the CRFM, Professor Pieter Bekker of Dundee University, Scotland, had presented oral arguments to the full Tribunal of 21 Judges on 5 September 2014. Bekker's submission was well received and noted internationally.

Source:

THE BAHAMAS WEEKLY

Common Fisheries Policy for Caribbean approved as final policy
By CRFM Secretariat Communications

http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/caribbean-news/Common_Fisheries_Policy_for_Caribbean_approved_as_final_policy37648.shtml

Oct 15, 2014 

Dominica seeks to end ties with Privy Council

Source: NATION NEWS - BARBADOS

Pubished WED, JANUARY 02, 2013 - 4:23 PM

ROSEAU, Dominica –Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says he intends writing Britain later this month seeking permission for Dominica to sever ties with the London-based Privy Council in order to join the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

“This month, January 2013 God’s willing, we shall write formally to the British government indicating to them our intention of severing ties with the Privy Council and seeking their agreement on that,” Skerrit said.

“As you know the Constitution of Dominica calls for a negotiated departure with the British government,” Skerrit said, adding “if that is done it will not require a referendum, so we just have to get an agreement with the British government.

“Certainly in 2013 Dominica will move very speedily to recognise the CCJ as our final court,” he said, noting that the island has been paying for the regional court established in 2001 to replace the Privy Council.

CARICOM countries have taken a US$100 million loan from the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to meet the operation of the CCJ and ensure its financial independence. 

At the root of Caribbean disunity

by CLAUDE ROBINSON

Published by the Jamaica Observer

Sunday, April 03, 2011

UNLESS you have been too focused on the unseemly brawl between attorney KD Knight and Prime Minister Bruce Golding at the Dudus/Manatt enquiry you know that there has been sustained national outcry since Shanique Myrie revealed to this newspaper that she was the victim of an alleged cavity search that felt like a sexual assault by a female immigration official in Barbados.

The incident reportedly occurred on March 14. She also said the Immigration officer made several derogatory remarks about Jamaicans. She was refused permission to land and was returned to Jamaica on the next available flight.

SAMUDA… it makes no sense for Caribbean countries to accept and indeed to court investors from all over the world, but to resent those who take up such offers who come from elsewhere within the region

SAMUDA… it makes no sense for Caribbean countries to accept and indeed to court investors from all over the world, but to resent those who take up such offers who come from elsewhere within the region 1/1

Barbadian Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Maxine McClean immediately dismissed Ms Myrie's allegations.

"There is absolutely no truth to a story carried in a Jamaican newspaper on Thursday, March 24, that a female citizen of that country was body-searched by Immigration officers on arrival at the Grantley Adams International Airport." The minister accepted a report from the chief immigration officer, after "extensive investigations" that "the claims were baseless".

By Thursday, as the controversy got extensive media and political attention across the region, the Jamaican Government despatched a team of officials to Barbados to dig deeper into the issue.

Meanwhile, the Barbadian minister appeared to be dialling back her initial assertions, suggesting that the matter must be thoroughly and calmly investigated to determine what really happened and what sanctions would be applied to anyone found to be have committed an illegal offence.

What we know at this stage is that the story told by Ms Myrie to the Observer and the story told by Barbadian Immigration officials to the foreign minister cannot both be true.

Though I am prepared to suspend final judgement until all the facts are in, it is not credible for Ms Myrie to concoct such a horrifying and humiliating story about herself. It is not the kind of notoriety that any rational person would inflict on themselves.

The specific issue is not beyond reasonable resolution. The allegations outlined by Ms Myrie are illegal under Barbadian law and I do not believe it's beyond the Royal Barbados Police to get to the truth and let the law take its course. The Jamaican woman has, quite rightly, retained counsel to protect her interests and her human rights.

But as the investigation runs its course, the controversy has again raised fundamental questions about commitment to the regional integration movement which generations of political leaders have been crafting, with limited success, for more than four decades.

Reflection of deep suspicions and mistrust

Was this an isolated incident or a reflection of deeper rifts and mistrust about the practical implementation of the various protocols and agreements about the free movement of people, capital, and goods and services?

We know that Caricom suffers from periodic skirmishes ranging from trade -- the struggle to get Jamaican patties into Trinidad is a case in point — through the upkeep and utilisation of the Caribbean Court of Justice, to immigration, as proved by the Myrie case, and recitations of story after story about mistreatment in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago of nationals from several Caricom countries.

Addressing Parliament last Wednesday, Prime Minister Golding said the most recent Caricom heads of Government meeting heard complaints from the St Vincent prime minister that nationals from his country were mistreated when they arrived in Barbados. At a meeting prior to that, a similar complaint was made by the president of Guyana.

"There are issues that we have not addressed. The deputy prime minister will confirm that at almost every Heads of Government meeting the matter is raised," Mr Golding remarked in his statement to Parliament.

In its editorial comment on the issue Thursday, The Trinidad Express acknowledged that the twin-island republic has also been fingered in the mistreatment of Jamaicans, stating that, "Jamaica has also listed this country's airports among those in the region where its citizens have charged mistreatment by officials. This is in spite of the fact that Caricom purports to be moving towards free travel between member states."

The so-called Caricom passport is honoured more in the breach than the observance and persons in possession of valid Caricom skill certificates, which identify the holder as persons eligible to move freely throughout the region, say the document is routinely ignored by border officials.

In some instances, Immigration officials do not have the authority to honour these documents because their governments did not bother to pass the necessary enabling legislation that would give the power of law to the signed agreements.

Another underlying issue is the differences in economic development. People in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, the two Caricom members with the most robust economies, often express concerns about 'foreigners' coming in to 'take' what rightly belongs to 'nationals'. Border officials probably reflect this mood when they encounter some Caricom nationals at points of entry.

In addition, the gap between what regional treaties say and what occurs in national practice is explained by the fact that there is no supra-national body to enforce the agreements because individual states and people have shown no inclination to give up their sovereignty, not even in part.

This is not an easy issue because no country will give up its right to make critical decisions about matters like security, border control and development strategy unless the alternative is demonstrably better than holding on to the illusion of sovereignty.

The European Union is often dangled as an example of a regional integration movement that works; but this did not happen overnight. And they still have holdouts. For example, the British have stayed out of the common Euro currency, holding on to the pound as their national currency.

In our region the benefits of integration have been slow in coming. Big inter-regional projects tend to falter. A case in point: Early in the 1970s, Jamaica's Michael Manley, Guyana's Forbes Burnham and Trinidad and Tobago's Eric Williams talked boldly and hopefully about a regional aluminium smelter using alumina from Jamaica and Guyana and energy from Trinidad. Nothing happened.

But while state-supported projects have faltered, business people at all levels are up and down the region investing and working even in the face of bureaucratic humbug. Big firms like GraceKennedy, Sagicor, and Trinidad Cement are all over the place.

This past week Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, was in Trinidad and Tobago wooing investors.

According to The Trinidad Express, Samuda said that "it makes no sense for Caribbean countries to accept and indeed to court investors from all over the world, but to resent those who take up such offers who come from elsewhere within the region".

At another end of the spectrum, Jamaican entertainers pull big crowds even in places where authorities show their disapproval of some of the lyrical content and on-stage profanities. And some don't get past the border.

It seems, therefore, that there is a real desire for mutually beneficial exchanges at both corporate and individual levels. But this has to be done in a context of mutual respect.

Skirmishes and squabbles are part of doing business; abuse and humiliation are not. For the most part the region is joined by commonalities of culture, language and the Caribbean Sea. The divisiveness that too often prevails over co-operation will, in all probability, disappear with time and force of circumstances. We may become more accommodating to one another as others far away become less accommodating to us.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/pfversion/At-the-root-of-Caribbean-disunity_8617864#ixzz1IVvEOQxS

Jamaica’s position on CCJ scorned

Jamaica’s position on CCJ scorned

Published: Friday, January 28, 2011

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) – Prime Minister Tillman Thomas has scoffed at a suggestion by the Government of Jamaica to opt for its own final Court of Appeal instead of going the route of the Caribbean Court Of Justice (CCJ).

Thomas, who is the current chairman of Caricom, said Jamaica’s argument that there would be political interference in the CCJ did not make sense.

“What I find a bit strange about Jamaica’s position is that the argument against the CCJ is that there would be political interference. Domestically, it makes it easier for political interference,” he said.

Late last year a debate in Jamaica’s Parliament, over whether to sever ties with the British Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal, revealed that the government while agreeing to move away from the Privy Council, was proffering a Jamaica Court of Appeal over the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

This idea was sharply shot down by the opposition which called for a referendum on the issue.

Thomas said there is a need for more collective confidence in the ability of regional judges to hand down unbiased judgments.

“We in the region have competent and capable judges to man our courts,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, one of the best Courts of Appeal we have experienced in the region is the Court of Appeal in Grenada during the revolution and the revolution had its problems; but that Court of Appeal which was in Grenada was one of the most distinguished and outstanding courts in the region.”

One of the judges who served in that court is Sir Nicholas Liverpool, Dominica’s President. He served as Justice of Appeal in the Grenada Court of Appeal from 1979 to 1991.

Grenada is a signatory to the CCJ and Thomas said he believes it’s just a matter of time before the country takes steps to adopt it as its final appellate court

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Jamaica-s-position-on-CCJ-scorned#ixzz1CLUt2nnt

Dancing away from the CCJ

Dancing away from the CCJ

Ex-St Lucia PM sees 'bleak future' for Caricom

Source: Jamaica Observer

Published: December 29, 2010

APPREHENSION over future leadership at the Georgetown-based Caribbean Community Secretariat has now grown to include the future of the Port-of-Spain-headquartered Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

In the case of the latter, current talk in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to dance away from accessing the CCJ in preference for establishing their own final appeal court has drawn a sharp rebuke from Dr Kenny Anthony, a former prime minister of St Lucia. He had played a key role in the formation of the CCJ when he headed the legal division of the Community Secretariat.

There will, therefore, be no formal handing over by the retired Carrington to his successor when Caricom leaders hold their scheduled first Inter-Sessional Meeting for 2011 in Grenada in February,With the surprise decision by Edwin Carrington to step down as Caricom secretary general at the end of this month after 18 years of service, Deputy Secretary General Lolila Applewaithe will begin acting as secretary general from January 1.

A new six-month chairmanship also begins next month when host for the coming Inter-Sessional Meeting in St George's, Prime Minister Tillman Thomas takes over from his Jamaican counterpart, Bruce Golding.

While he has been quite forthcoming in articulating Caricom's support for Haiti and speaking reassuringly about regional economic integration, it is Prime Minister Golding who, within recent weeks, has further contributed to deep concerns over the future of the CCJ.

As if seeking political cover under an idea initially raised in Trinidad and Tobago -- but yet to be advocated as official policy -- Prime Minister Golding is marketing an initiative for Jamaica to replace the Privy Council in London with its own final court of appeal.

With no known appetite for the CCJ, Golding and his Jamaica Labour Party (under earlier leadership as well), have long been ducking the challenge of accessing the regional court by linking such a move with the need for a national referendum

Read that proposition to mean, basically, more faith in the competence and integrity in the British law lords of the Privy Council than the fine legal minds this region has produced across member states, and with arduous efforts to ensure appointments free from the political influences so often talked about with respect to the functioning of local judiciaries.

The situation becomes even more intriguing when it is understood that a national referendum to replace the Privy Council is not really a necessity in the case of Jamaica, as it is in countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

Further, various British law lords associated with the Privy Council have been urging former British colonies, like ours in Caricom, to initiate arrangements to break the dependency syndrome on the Privy Council.

How sad, in contrast, to hear Caricom leaders like Golding and his Trinidadian counterpart, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, talking about replacing the Privy Council with their respective final appeal court.

At the same time, they steadfastly avoid encouragement to access the CCJ -- as Barbados, Guyana and Belize have done -- with a court of original jurisdiction in resolving trade disputes as well as serving as the final appellate institution of the entire community.

In St, Lucia, Dr Anthony's expression of "surprise and bewilderment" came in his response to the emerging tactics, both in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to push the idea of a final national court of appeal without any commitment to the CCJ.

Anthony, known for his robust advocacy of development of a West Indian jurisprudence, believes that if Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago persist in spreading the notion of individual final appeal courts it would strike a "lethal blow" to the furthering of any support for the CCJ.

He is bewildered by what he views as a "disingenuous" contention to avoid political influence in the case of the CCJ. If indeed, said Anthony, the CCJ "is susceptible to political influence -- as is being claimed in Jamaica, for instance, then how much more could a Jamaican (or T&T) final appeal court be affected by political manipulations?"

The prospect, therefore, as he lamented, for realising the full benefits of creating a Caribbean Community, as envisaged by the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, "is becoming bleaker and bleaker if we cannot be committed to so compelling a case for region-wide endorsement of the CCJ.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Dancing-away-from-the-CCJ_8258962#ixzz19WcavMHs

Press Release - August 4, 2010

SECRETARY-GENERAL CARRINGTON STEPS DOWN AT YEAR END

His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has notified the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community of his decision to step down from his position, effective 31 December 2010.

Mr. Carrington, a national of Trinidad and Tobago was appointed in 1992 - the sixth Secretary-General of the Community. He succeeded Mr. Roderick Rainford of Jamaica.

“It has been my privilege and honour to have been given the opportunity to serve the Region and its people in this capacity” said Mr. Carrington.

“These last 18 years as Secretary-General have been the pinnacle of my public service career. I have, despite the odds, done all I could to help create a viable and secure Community for All. It has been a period of important achievements as well as significant disappointments. I leave satisfied and confident however, that the Caribbean Community now has a solid platform on which to continue to build the integration movement,” the Secretary-General said

“I am looking forward to the opportunity to deal with some pressing family issues and to enjoy much more time with them. I pay them the highest tribute for their patience, understanding and tremendous support during this long and arduous journey”, Mr. Carrington added.

During his tenure, Mr. Carrington oversaw the revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the consequent transition of the Community from a Common Market to a Single Market in 2006. Under his Secretary-Generalship, the platform is also being set for eventual evolution of the Community to include a Single Economy - the framework for which Heads of Government have undertaken to create by 2015. Mr. Carrington’s term has also seen the establishment of a number of key institutions designed to put the integration process on a sound base, including the CCJ - Caribbean Court of Justice (2005); as well as CROSQ - the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (2002); the CCCCC - Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (2005); the CCC - CARICOM Competition Commission (2008); and the CDF – CARICOM Development Fund (2008).

Mr. Carrington, an economist by profession, first joined the then Commonwealth Caribbean Secretariat in 1970 as Chief of Economics and Statistics, rising to Director of Trade and Integration before being appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States in 1976. He was subsequently elected Secretary-General of the ACP in 1985, the only Caribbean national, to date, to have held that position. In acknowledgement of his outstanding service to the ACP, Carrington Hall at the ACP Secretariat (Brussels) is named in his honour.

On returning from Brussels in 1991, Mr. Carrington served as his country’s High Commissioner to Guyana before his appointment to his current position. Carrington is the longest serving Secretary-General of the Community in the service of which he has been the recipient of national awards from Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago as well as from the Dominican Republic, Italy and Spain.

As Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Carrington also served as Secretary-General of CARIFORUM (comprising all the Member States of CARICOM except Montserrat and comprising the Dominican Republic).

EDITORIAL- Mr Golding and the CCJ

Published: Thursday | June 17, 2010

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

It is perhaps more than symbolic that the Jamaican authorities had no objection that Governor General Sir Patrick Allen this week administered the oath of office to Professor Winston Anderson as a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and that Prime Minister Bruce Golding spoke in appreciative, though measured, terms of the performance of the CCJ in its five years.

The decisions of the court, Mr Golding said, had inspired confidence and the justices in their rulings had "sought to lay a foundation on which the future of the court can be built".

If we are right, Mr Golding's posture had to do with more than the fact that Justice Anderson, until lately the executive director of the Caribbean Law Institute in Barbados, is a Jamaican of whom the prime minister is understandably proud.

It seems likely that Mr Golding will at next month's summit of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders indicate that his government has completed its re-evaluation of Jamaica's absence from the court and is now ready to begin to plan its accession. That is the difficult bit.

Vehement opposition

The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), under Golding's leadership and before, used to be vehemently opposed to the CCJ in its role as the court of last resort in criminal and civil matters.

Although they did not always express it this frankly, an underlying theme of those who opposed the court was mistrust for the moral fibre and the intellectual and jurisprudential acumen of regional judges. The more openly expressed concern, however, was for the independence of the CCJ, which the party continued to advance even after it was clear that the court was insulated against political intrusions.

Mr Golding's party guided a successful constitutional challenge at the Privy Council against Jamaica's participation in the CCJ as was then contemplated. The PM, though, would have had his mind concentrated by last October's complaint by Lord Nicholas Phillips, the chief justice of Britain's new Supreme Court, that Privy Council cases occupied too much of the time of his judges. He hinted at farming out some of these cases to judges of lower courts.

The JLP's retreat from its former positions may cause Mr Golding political discomfiture. More problematic, however, is how he manages the accession to the CCJ - assuming this is the course being contemplated - given the Privy Council's ruling that the CCJ first has to be constitutionally entrenched before it can be a superior court to Jamaica's Court of Appeal. This would require special parliamentary majorities and, ultimately, a referendum.

Standing Parliamentary committee

That seems doable. The People's National Party's is supposed to be a strong supporter of the CCJ, which it had a major hand in fashioning when it formed the government. But strange things happen in politics.

Which is why we repeat our suggestion for the establishment of a standing parliamentary committee on security, legal and justice matters, through which there can be constant cross-party dialogue on critical issues - including the CCJ. Additionally, there is probably the need for a summit between Mr Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller to start to thaw the political freeze that has continued for too long.

Additionally, Mr Golding should unveil any new thinking on the CCJ to the Jamaican people before he takes it to CARICOM.

CARICOM IN 'COMA'

by RICKEY SINGH

Source: Jamaica Observer

Published Sunday, January 17, 2010

EVEN as the Caribbean Community Secretariat remains intensely engaged in commendable regional humanitarian aid efforts for earthquake-devastated Haiti, the prognosis for any significant advancement in Caricom's major programmes during the first half of this second decade of the 21st century does not appear encouraging.

Indeed, with a perceived trend towards a narrow nationalism, masked in a few cases as new approaches in trade, immigration and economic policies, there lurks the danger of an undermining of the growth of a once robust regional spirit to make the Single Market and Economy (CSME) a reality.

At present, while the Caricom Secretariat is preparing for the first Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government for this year, scheduled for Dominica next month, or early March, there are serious misgivings about the way forward for the CSME -- the Community's flagship project originally targeted for inauguration in 2015.

In November 2009, one of the foremost collaborators in the regional enterprise that is Caricom, Sir Shridath Ramphal, had painfully noted in an address to a forum of distinguished West Indians in Port of Spain on "Regional Progress and Challenges" that "As with West Indies cricket, regionalism can be damaged if we forget our trust and are ruled by short-term fixes. We did not become independent of Britain to scatter our regional heritage to the winds of passing fortune. But we are being tempted to do just that, and Caricom is blowing in the wind..."

A former long-serving Commonwealth secretary general and chancellor of the University of the West Indies warned:

"The CSME has lost credibility. Shame overwhelms us as we create the Caribbean Court of Justice and cling, unwanted, to the Privy Council. If things continue to fall apart like this, the centre will not hold. Caricom is comatose; and without intensive care a coma can precede death."

Ramphal's "straws"

Asked last Wednesday (before the announcement of Haiti's earthquake disaster) whether he still felt the same way about Caricom as he did at last November's symposium in Port of Spain, Ramphal told this columnist, "Unfortunately I still do", then quickly added:

"If I am to clutch at straws I would derive hope from the recent initialling of the treaty to establish an OECS Economic Union; and the potential for deeper cooperation between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, as exemplified in current negotiations involving the operations of Air Jamaica..."

At Caricom's upcoming inter-sessional in Roseau, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson is expected to give a report on the CSME Convocation he had hosted last October.

It was an occasion when representatives of both the region's private sector and labour movement did not spare criticisms of what they continue to view as yawning gaps between official rhetoric and actions to generate public confidence that arrangements for advancing the CSME are indeed being seriously pursued.

A notable absentee from the CSME Convocation was the regional economist, Professor Norman Girvan, author of the seminal report on "Towards a Single Economy and a Single Development Vision" that outlined a "road map" for strategising and methodical implementation.

To say that Girvan has himself become disillusioned over the lack of necessary collective approaches to implement the CSME project -- unanimously endorsed by the Community Heads of Government -- would be to recall a similar discouraging example as it relates to Professor Vaughn Lewis's report on the need for a new and more effective form of governance of Caricom affairs.

Now heading towards its 37th year of existence on July 4, 2010, Caricom remains divided on how and when to introduce what leading political and economic scholars, eminent private sector executives and others regard as a necessary new administrative architecture.

At its core -- as long recommended in the 1992 report of The West Indian Commission that was headed by Sir Shridath -- could be a team of eminent Caricom nationals (either three or five) armed with executive authority and focused on systematic implementation of unanimously adopted decisions by the Heads of Government.

If it's not a case of a seeming reluctance by the Community's political directorate against sharing power with leading regional technocrats, or a preference to hide behind expedient interpretations of "national sovereignty", then the Community's leaders should come clean in 2010 on what are the main barriers to the introduction of a more relevant system of governance of Caricom.

Disappointments

Last year, when there were a lot of "special meetings" of Caricom ministers and leaders, as well as task forces with overlapping mandates, to find practical responses to the negative impact on regional economies of the global financial and economic crisis, we were told of plans for a special delegation of Heads of Government and top fiscal and economic experts to engage the international financial institutions in Washington.

Well, the year ended and no such engagement is known to have occurred.

We were also informed of an expected summit of Caricom leaders with President Barack Obama before year-end. No such meeting took place and none is yet carded for any time in 2010.

The region's people are aware of developments that resulted in the miniaturising of the once high-profile Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).

Less awareness prevails about the status quo of either CSME-readiness arrangements or the extent of progress by the special unit in the Community Secretariat responsible for implementation arrangements for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) entered into with the European Union in 2008.

The first decade of the 21st century ended last year with ongoing disappointments that no progress of significance was made on the much-publicised people-focused project of intra-regional free movement, particularly as it relates to skilled Community nationals. The issue remains enmeshed in immigration controversies.

The current immigration situation in Antigua and Barbuda, for example, appears serious enough to warrant some direct action by the governments of Jamaica and Guyana with that of the Baldwin Spencer administration in St John's, as there have been repeated reports of unfair and inhumane treatment of their nationals.

At the symposium in Port of Spain on "Regional Progress and Challenges" referred to earlier, Sir Shridath Ramphal had expressed the hope that the results of that event could "help bring us (the region) to our senses...".

Alas, that hope has often been variously expressed at successive Caricom Heads of Government.

It would, therefore, be quite refreshing to see Caricom leaders demonstrate a new readiness to advance the goals of our economic integration movement at their coming 31st annual summit in July - venue is still undecided.

Hopefully this will bring closure to the multiplicity of negative features and occurrences during the second half of the first decade of this 21st century to inspire hope for a significant change, at least during the first half of this second decade when the CSME is scheduled to be operationalised.