PNP Promises to put CCJ to Referendum

Now PNP says it will put CCJ to referendum
Source: Jamaica Observer
August 10, 2007

The People's National Party (PNP) has made an about-turn in its position on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), promising to put the issue to a plebiscite within the next five years as part of other proposed changes to the Constitution.The commitment is outlined in the ruling party's manifesto which it launched last night at The Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston.

"Before taking effect, we will ensure that these constitutional changes are submitted to the Jamaican electorate for their approval," the manifesto stated of the CCJ, an updated Charter of Rights reflecting the current thinking on human rights and the creation of a republic headed by a Jamaican.

Party leader and prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, who arrived late as a result of heavy rains and the visit of Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, did not expand much on the issues in the manifesto, as she was constrained by time. However, the manifesto gives clear indication that referenda will be held on these issues if the party is elected to form the next government on August 27 when Jamaicans will vote in general elections.

The PNP Government, under former Prime Minister P J Patterson, had stoutly resisted calls by the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and rights groups for the CCJ to be put to a referendum.

Jamaica hopes to abandon appeals to the United Kingdom-based Privy Council and replace it with the CCJ as the island's final appeal court.

The controversial court was inaugurated on April 16, 2005 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. However, only Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago have entered the CCJ in its criminal and civil appeal jurisdictions.

The court, therefore, serves the other countries in the Caribbean Community in matters relating to regional trade.

The court's critics have raised objections ranging from the quality of jurisprudence in the Caribbean, to the inadequacies of the justice system in the region, to fear that the court will be underfunded and the possibility of political interference. There were also concerns that the CCJ was being introduced to ensure the application of the death penalty.

The Jamaican Government's reluctance to put the issue to a referendum was challenged by local rights groups who took their case to the Privy Council and won a judgement in their favour in February 2005.

Ostensibly, the British law lords ruled that while their court can be struck down by a simple majority in Parliament, it would require special constitutional provisions to entrench the CCJ before it could come into force with superior authority to the Jamaican appeal court.

The ruling left the Jamaican Government with the option of putting the issue to the public or getting the support of a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament.

Last year March, Patterson, in his final appeal to political leaders before leaving Gordon House, suggested that they seek bipartisan consensus on at least two of three issues of full sovereignty.

The three issues, which he said would "substantially advance the process of claiming our full sovereignty as a result of critical constitutional reform and provisions", were:
. the entrenchment in the Constitution, in short order, of the Charter of Fundamental Rights;
. completion of the process of "decolonisation", by creating a Republican system of government, with a president as the head of state, with authority derived directly from the people of Jamaica; and
. completing the process of the CCJ becoming the country's final appellate court.

Last night, Patterson's successor, Simpson Miller, also gave firm commitment to the transformation of the justice system by implementing the recommendations of a Government-commissioned reform task force.

Under that programme, a Law Foundation of Jamaica will be set up to assist with "funding innovative justice-related services." in collaboration with the private sector.

The PNP manifesto has also given the party's commitment to the reorganisation of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to provide a "single prosecution service for all courts", along with the establishment of a Judicial Code of Conduct.

The party also proposed a programme of human resources and training in the justice system to:
. Establish an independent Court Services Agency, answerable to Parliament and under the direction of the chief justice to help ensure independence of the judiciary from any influence or interference from the executive;
. Establish a Court Services Unit within the Ministry of Justice with responsibility for the implementation of modern systems and structures for our courts;
. Regionalise the Supreme Court; and
. Review operations of specialised courts, and introduce new courts to deal with mental health and domestic violence

Threat to Bring Constitutional Case to CCJ

All the way to the CCJ
Source: Stabroek News, Guyana - Aug 7, 2007

There is a real possibility the PNCR-1G may test the constitutionality of the High Court (Amendment) Bill, passed in the National Assembly on Thursday, all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), party Chairman Winston Murray says.

Meanwhile the party has restated that it will file a constitutional motion challenging the legality of the amendment in the high court.

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CCJ President to Address Regional Advisory Board

Commonwealth Secretariat - Caribbean Court of Justice President to ...
Source : www.thecommonwealth.org

Mr. Charles briefed Justice De La Bastide on the work of the Commonwealth Youth Programme and also outlined the various CYPCC initiatives to mainstream youth development issues within the broader regional development strategy.

President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) The Right Honourable Justice Michael De La Bastide has consented to deliver the feature address at the Regional Advisory Board 2007 meeting slated for August 20 to 24 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The announcement followed a meeting between Mr. Henry Charles, Regional Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre (CYPCC) and Justice De La Bastide on June 5 at the CCJ's Headquarters in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago during which several important issues related to law and order, regional legislative framework and judicial systems and the implications for youth development within the context of sustainable development were discussed.

The meeting was part of CYPCC's continuous efforts to develop strategic partnerships and mainstream youth development issues in the Caribbean.

Mr. Charles briefed Justice De La Bastide on the work of the Commonwealth Youth Programme and also outlined the various CYPCC initiatives to mainstream youth development issues within the broader regional development strategy.

Recently the Regional Director has been focusing on the impact of the existing judicial systems on young people in the region and has advocated for the reformation of the juvenile justice systems in the Caribbean as part of a paradigm shift in the regional youth development strategy.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is a regional judicial tribunal established on 14 February 2001. The appellate court was inaugurated on 16 April 2005 in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago under the Revised Treaty of Charguaramas of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that established the CARICOM Single Market and Economy signed by CARICOM Heads of Government.

The court has several functions two of which are, to act as a court that can handle trade disputes amongst CARICOM member states and to serve as a court of final appeal, replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Misconceptions about the Role of the CCJ

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE SPEAKS ON MISSING CAUTION STATEMENT

Source: LoveFM - Belize

Commissioner Westby said it is now time for Belize to work towards joining the Caribbean Court of Justice .

“As societies and the region evolve, we as a people regionally,we need to have our own system in place. We understand our own unique situation in the Caribbean. Certainly hats off to the Privy Council but I think that it’s time for us to have and I would like to see our Belizean politicians come together and pass in the House of the National Assembly where we can have the Criminal’s Appeal because right now if it’s five years and they go to the Privy Council, they will not hang them again. I have never ever authorized any hanging I’m certain if you commit a crime then you must pay a price. And that is what I would like to see our politicians come together and put partisan politics aside or pass the bill or the act or whatever it is to authorize the Caribbean Court of Justice as our final court of appeal.”

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Dress Code for Attorneys at the CCJ

Letter: No wigs at the Caribbean Court of Justice
Published on Friday, March 9, 2007
Source: Caribbean Net News

Dear Sir:

I refer to a letter published on Thursday March 8, 2007 from Mr Louie Christian in which he indicates that wigs are worn at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and goes on to express his view on this. Mr Christian’s information is incorrect.

Please be advised that a decision of this sort is one which is made by the Court and not by any of the organs of CARICOM and, in fact, wigs are not worn at the CCJ. The dress code for attorneys as well as other information for attorneys is to be found at the CCJ website under the menu offering, “attorneys” at: http://www.ccj.org/publicInfo/INFORMATION%20FOR%20COUNSEL%20revised%20(2).pdf At that page the following statement appears:

“4. Mode of dress when appearing before the Court Attorneys appearing before the Court are expected to dress as they would to address the Supreme Court in their home state. Wigs however are not required. For a case management conference attorneys are required to dress as they would for chamber court or for a case management conference in their home state.”

The CCJ Judges when in open court, wear unique CCJ blue and gold robes and do not wear wigs. The blue robes signify the Caribbean Sea which touches our shores and binds us together and the pure and strong gold band signifies the strength of the Caribbean sun which warms us all. In case management conferences, they wear no robes.

The Caribbean Court of Justice website which gives a great deal of information about the Court is located at http://www.caribbeancourtofjustice.org/.

I encourage your readers to visit the site.

Thank you.
Master Christie-Anne Morris-Alleyne

Court Executive Administrator Caribbean Court of Justice

Tenure of CCJ Judge

Tenure of Caribbean Court judge extended to age 75

Source: Stabroek News - Georgetown,Guyana

By Oscar Ramjeet
Sunday, July 29th 2007

The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) has extended the tenure of Justice Duke Pollard to age 75 as a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after the RJLSC was given the mandate by way of a Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the CCJ, and signed by all the Participating Countries, for the extension.

It seems as if the Protocol was only given to extend the tenure of a particular judge and not all judges, according to an email received from Dr Michael Anthony Lilla, Court Protocol and Information Officer. This was in response to an email sent to him inquiring whether Justice Pollard was still a judge of the CCJ since he had already attained the age of 72, the retiring age of CCJ judges.

Dr Lilla had some time ago said he was not aware that steps were taken to extend the age to 75, but in a recent email he said the RJLSC has in fact extended Pollard's tenure to 75 on June 8.

The email from Dr. Lilla reads: "By a Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice, recently signed by all the participating countries, the regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission was given the power to extend the tenure of a judge of the CCJ to age 75. The power to extend is exercisable if circumstances so require during the evolutionary phase of the court's existence, which is defined as the period ending when the full complement of nine judges has been appointed by the commission. The commission in exercise of this power has extended the tenure of Justice Pollard to age 75, and he, therefore, continues to be a judge of the court."

There is no information on the CCJ website to indicate that the tenure of Justice Pollard has been extended to 75. It was only revealed after the Court Protocol and Information Officer was contacted via email.

Justice Pollard never served as an advocate, or a judge, in his long legal career but is an experienced legal draftsman, and wrote extensively on international law and has participated in drafting many Caricom agreements. Several jurists ask why the regional governments went so far as to extend the age of a judge to 75 when the CCJ has had little work to do since its establishment a little more than two years ago.

According to the CCJ website, since the court was formally inaugurated two years and three months ago, on April 16, 2005 only eight substantive appeals were heard and an application for leave to appeal.

Pollard was sworn in as a CCJ judge on January 15, 2005 and he would have served two years and four months when he attained the age of 72.

When the CCJ was inaugurated, its President Michael de la Bastide and six other judges were appointed -- two short of the full complement of nine, but jurists in the region feel that since only two jurisdictions, Guyana and Barbados, now constitute the court there was no need to have as many as six judges and the president.

It seems that Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the OECS states will have to get the blessings of the opposition before there can be a constitutional amendment to remove the Privy Council as the final court, and this might take a very long time.

Point of Clarification ( Jamaica's Constitution Dilemma)

Mr Seaga is right, except ...

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

Sunday, July 29, 2007

By David Coore

I hope that Edward Seaga's former colleagues in the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will take note of his article on constitutional reform appearing in The Sunday Gleaner (Public Affairs) of last week. ....

Point of clarification
There is just one point in Mr. Seaga's article that needs to be clarified.
He states that the Privy Council decision that nullified the legislation establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as our final court of appeal is based on their finding that the CCJ "was wrongly formulated and structured".

This is not so. On the contrary, the Privy Council in clear terms expressly stated that they had no fault to find with the structure of the CCJ. Their decision was based entirely on their interpretation of the Jamaican Constitution and the appropriate procedure for amending it.

The Privy Council concluded that the procedure adopted to pass the necessary legislation, though adequate to abolish appeals to the Privy Council, itself, was not appropriate for its replacement by a new court.

The appropriate procedure, in their view, would have involved the parliamentary support of the Opposition party. It is important to understand the basis of the Privy Council decision because that decision did not involve any necessity to revise the treaty establishing the CCJ or to restructure the court itself.

Subject to this technical but important clarification, I do hope that those who have the responsibility of revising our constitution (and this involves both the party that governs and the party in opposition in the legislature) will heed Mr. Seaga's timely exhortation that they get on with the job of implementing those matters that have been widely discussed, agreed, and can now be implemented.

David H. Coore, O.J., Q.C., Ministry of Justice

Jamaica Gleaner Supports CCJ

Keeping politics out of justice reform
Source :Jamaica Gleaner
Jul 28, 2007

"This newspaper, as we expect to be the attitude of most fair-minded people, has confidence in the integrity of the Jamaican judiciary and the overall quality of jurisprudence available in the country and the wider English-speaking Caribbean. Which is why we would have no problem with Jamaica proceeding to membership of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its court of last resort, replacing the Privy Council in England."

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Caribbean Rights Journal

Appeal Court head laments number of extrajudicial killings
Source: Jamaica Gleaner - Kingston, Jamaica
July 26, 2007

"I am and I have been for a considerable time appalled at the number of killings that are taking place, courtesy of the hands of persons who are paid by the state and who are using weapons provided by the state," Justice Panton said Monday at the launch of Caribbean Rights, a publication by the Independent Jamaica Council on Human Rights.....

Meanwhile, Dr. Lloyd Barnett, editor of Caribbean Rights, said it was important to have a Caribbean journal on human rights because the nations within the region are faced with similar challenges.

The journal includes articles relating to the Caribbean Court of Justice and its first important case, among other things.

Jamaica's Constitutional Dilemma

A constitutional nightmare

Source : Jamaica Gleaner - July 22, 2007
Edward Seaga

The Constitution of Jamaica is once again under discussion, this time thanks to Bruce Golding who raised what has proven to be a controversial issue: a fixed election date. Strangely, throughout all the wide-ranging discussions on constitutional reforms during the first half of the 1990s, a fixed date of elections was never considered to have sufficient support to be included among the discussions.

There are good reasons for and against the fixing of the date. I will cite only one reason against the fixed date, which I can substantiate by having played a front-line position personally in each of the two instances.

If the election date is fixed, a government could not be changed before the due date of election if it found itself in an unbearable position, or if the electorate considered it to be acting in an unbearable manner. It would have to wait out the full term, with dire consequences of a breakdown of civil order, or perhaps worse. This was the position of Norman Manley in 1961 and Michael Manley in 1980.

In 1961, Norman Manley had lost the Federal referendum. Having also lost the Federal election previously in 1958 when Bustamante’s team secured a decisive majority, the PNP would have had no moral authority to continue as a government to introduce Independence without a general election to decide which party should govern independent Jamaica. There would have been a serious breakdown in public order if a decision was not made at an early date. Jamaica would have become a bitterly divided country,which would be absolutely the wrong way to introduce Independence. Norman Manley understood this. He knew that an early general election would be necessary to enable the country to move forward without recrimination, retaliation or reprisal.

But the problem in 1961 was that the PNP term of government, which it won in July 1959, still had nearly three more years before election would be due. It was because the Constitution allowed flexibility in fixing the date of election that Norman Manley was able to call a general election in 1962, rather than be forced to wait until 1964, sparing the country the horrors of a bitterly divided nation as the birthright of Independence.

In 1980, Michael Manley found the country in a worse situation. His far-left rhetoric in promoting his radical brand of socialism, despite labelling it democratic socialism, a softer version, and the pounding which he was receiving on the domestic economy, led to the ultimate crisis in 1980. He had combed the socialist world for help and got US$50 million, sufficient for a short period only. The capitalist world closed the doors on official aid and bank financing without an IMF agreement. He rejected the IMF and its programme which was impossibly difficult to live with. He had no choice then, but in February, to set a date for early election by October 1980, more than one year before the election was due. The delay to October was to allow the newly established Electoral Advisory Committee to make the country ready for election.

With a fixed election date, Michael Manley would have had to wait an additional, unbearable 22 months with a severe shortfall of foreign exchange plunging the country into shortages, stoppages and outages on a continuous basis well beyond the endurance of an inconsolable public. He did the only thing he could do: call an early election.

But while much time and media attention are being given to the issue of a fixed election date, understandably because this election lacks issues, the bigger picture of constitutional reforms is being overlooked.

The programme of these reforms began in 1993. I took the most unusual step of seating myself on the Constitutional Reform Committee to help drive the programme of reform as I considered this to be one of the two missions I set for myself in the 1990s.

The Reports on Constitutional Reform proposed 29 amendments, or new provisions, to be included in the Constitution. The second and last report was tabled in 1995.

A substantial amount of time passed while the direction of the reform process was focused on two of the very important issues: the replacement of the Privy Council by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the final Court of Appeal for Jamaica, and the drafting of a charter of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Charter of rights issues

We know the outcome of the attempt to displace the Privy Council. As the leader of the Opposition at that time, I spearheaded the decision to seek a declaration by the Privy Council on the attempt by the Government of Jamaica to enact the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica’s final Court of Appeal. The Privy Council found that the CCJ was wrongly formulated and structured and, as such, could not assume that ultimate role in our judicial system unless it was restructured and obtained the consent of the people by referendum.

The other issue was the Charter of Rights. After years of wrangling in parliamentary committees, the charter has still not been perfected and is now before the House of Representatives for final decision.

In an effort to move the reform agenda forward, David Coore and I, as the only two surviving members of the parliamentary committee which framed the Constitution of Jamaica, were asked to review the 29 proposed amendments to the Constitution to determine which were ready to go forward to be enacted into legislation. We met at Vale Royal and determined that 16 of the 29 issues could be prepared for legislation.

However, there was still no forward movement on these 16 proposals. As a consequence, another meeting was convened on January 23, 2006, comprising David Coore, representing the government; Dr. Lloyd Barnett, eminent constitutional attorney; Shirley Miller, adviser/consultant at the Ministry of Justice and myself representing the Opposition, at the request of the Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding.

The meeting was to take decisions on the outstanding issues and make recommendation to the parliamentary committee in order to move some of these items to legislation. This was done, but since then, 18 months ago, still no movement has occurred.

The lack of movement has created a logjam of constitutional amendments, which is a nightmare, not only because of the number of proposals to be legislated, but because several of them require entrenchment or deep entrenchment in the Constitution, procedures which are lengthy, cumbersome and problematic.

The entrenchment procedure requires a two-thirds majority approval in each House of Parliament.

Where deep entrenchment is required, the procedure is a two-thirds majority in each House and a referendum. If the required two-thirds majority is secured in both Houses, that is, both parties agree on the proposal, the referendum must be passed by at least 51 per cent of the vote. If the two-thirds majority is not secured, that is, the parties disagree, then the referendum must be passed by at least 66 per cent of the vote, a level of support not yet achieved by any party. Additionally, entrenchment and deep entrenchment require a minimum of six months to pass through Parliament. If a referendum is involved, the timetable could be as much as a further six months longer. The full timetable could be, therefore, at least a year, or more.

This is where the problem is spelled out. There are at least nine proposals requiring deep entrenchment and several for entrenchment. Some may be grouped, but the important and weighty amendments cannot be coupled in one referendum. Each will need an individual referendum to avoid confusing the electorate. Hence, years of legislative action will be required to hold several referenda, a prospect likely to create certain voter fatigue, to say nothing of massive expenditure.

I have selected only a few of the many weighty issues already agreed but waiting to be enacted. Additionally, there are those to be agreed in Parliament because the Joint Committee of the Houses of Parliament could not secure agreement. These include the death penalty and trial by jury.

Still worse, there is no decision on the structure of government to decide whether there is to be a presidential system to replace the present model of leadership by a prime minister, and if so, whether the president is to have executive or ceremonial powers.

Now tell me when all this will be completed? After more than a dozen years of discussion and decision, when will the nightmare end? This is where the focus of attention should be, not in adding new proposals to the problem.

■ Edward Seaga is a former Prime Minister. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the University of the West Indies.

An Uneasy Integration

An uneasy integration

Sun Jul 15 2007

By Jeff Cumberbatch

Source: Barbados Advocate

ANOTHER CARICOM heads of government summit comes to a close, with the usual grand promises of increased co-operation, the hopeful expressions of confidence and the lengthy communiqué couched in the language of the mandarin. We shall see. However, it would be reckless to ignore the fact that at the popular level, where regional integration should be not only a felt but a lived reality, there is an almost palpable disconnect between the discourse of officialdom and that of an increasingly vocal number so far as this is concerned.

It can be sensed in the growing stridency of anti-Guyanese sentiment, especially on the populist electronic media. This is likely to vary at any given time from discomfort with their numbers to our unaccommodating lack of geographical space to an anecdotal innovation in local criminal techniques. We must never be allowed to forget that these are a people who have experienced the politics of racialism, a potential contaminating factor in a pristine Barbados where there is no racial, social or other division. It can be heard in the calls for restrictions on the property rights of those who are not Barbadian, however this protean classification may be defined. In an era of globalisation, such views seem at least peculiar; in an age of vaunted regional integration, they are positively bizarre.

They may reflect a Caribbean attitude, however. Globalisation and integration may be conceptually compelling realities at this time, but neither must be permitted to impede our sovereign agenda of business as usual, nor do some of us care in the least to take advantage of the opportunities offered by these phenomena -- "We are doing quite nicely as we are, thank you ever so much" . One group in a neighbouring island some years ago expressed horror at my suggestion that one logical extension of CSME was that our present nationalities would eventually become irrelevant. I suspect that this is not a minority reaction regionally.

So our governors pro tempore will cheerfully sign onto global and regional treaties which envision the opening of our markets and borders while popular sentiment insists that we keep them firmly shut. Ruritania is for Ruritanians first! So, alas, the Caribbean Court of Justice limps along to what seems the inevitable demise of its initially conceived format; work permits remain a regulatory sine qua non in a purported single economic space which guarantees the right of establishment and freedom of movement; and some continue vainly, in spite of everything, to imagine a single currency sometime hence. There is always the talk, but are our people prepared to walk?

This disconnect between official reality and popular discourse presents a fertile field for opposition politics in the member states. An appeal to nationalism is unlikely to fail and, in a context where one fears an end to assumed entitlements, that message becomes even more cogent. It is this which might explain the recent conditional promise by David Thompson, the Leader of the Opposition, that should the ink still be dry on any deal for the acquisition of Barbados Shipping & Trading when his party assumes office, he will put a stop to the transaction. Of course, for varying reasons, this statement would have resonated with a substantial segment of the population, many of whom would not have given even a passing thought to precisely how such might be achieved. Of course, there would be those who, for varying reasons, would oppose this position but, equally, would not have considered its im/possibility. So we are assured, once again, of an absence of reasoned discourse; local politics as usual.

While I do recognise and concede the obvious political value of Thompson's proposed strategy, it is not one to which I am immediately attracted. For one, it is not clear what criteria, or criterion even, would qualify BS&T for special protection relative to other local concerns. Second, given the nature of company ownership, a rescue of BS&T by State action might raise all sorts of political queries should others not be similarly assisted in future. Third, there might be an insalutary effect on Barbados' investment reputation unless it is made clear that this is an exceptional case. For me, it is a veritable Pandora's Box and, in the unforgettable dictum of one politician (not local), should we open it we don't know what Trojan horses are likely to jump out.

Precisely how Thompson would achieve his objective is not for me to advise; though those who are minded to inquire further should consider that no freedom is absolute and that the public/national interest once established is an overarching consideration. Moreover, his proposed policy recourse is not necessarily abhorrent in a liberal democracy. Legislation aimed at regulating takeover bids may be found in France ("economic patriotism", Switzerland, Japan and even in some US jurisdictions. This, in spite of the US constitutional mandate even in some US jurisdictions. This, in spite of the US constitutional mandate that " [n]o State shall pass any law impairing the Obligation of Contracts&" In Germany, in 1999, the then Chancellor came to the defence of Mannesman AG when it was under threat of a takeover from Vodafone Air Touch plc of Britain, arguing that the bid could "destroy the culture of the company".

The time has now come for all of us to decide what will be the nature of our integration, if we are to have one. I do not mean in respect of what our leaders say, or what the international documents stipulate. I mean the collective view of regional citizens, however this may be identified. The result might give cause for surprise to some.

Bahamas - Truly independent Nation?

A truly independent nation?
Source: Nassau Guardian - Bahamas

Thirty-four years ago, on a still night just after midnight on July 10, when the brilliant black, gold and aquamarine flag of The Bahamas was raised for the first time on Clifford Park, Sir Arthur Foulkes remembered that his heart rate went up a little and that he was filled with a tremendous amount of pride.

"I felt very happy," he recalled. "The only regret I had was that when the flag was pulled up it was still, so there was no flag flapping in the wind – the flag was just hanging around the mast."

It was a time that tens of thousands of Bahamians witnessed and can recall with great pride, but probably few have thought about the significance of the event to any great extent since. In that moment, The Bahamas took complete responsibility for itself, but what exactly have we gained since becoming independent just over three decades ago? And are we truly independent, given our retention of many colonial trappings and the Privy Council?......

But how much asserting can we do given the fact that we have maintained some fairly significant ties to Britain, such as the Privy Council – the country's final court of appeal – and many of the colonial trappings, which for some are a grim reminder of the history of colonialism.

"I have a problem with us swearing our allegiance to the Queen, with the Queen being our Head of State," says Strachan. "To me, we don't have the sovereignty that we suggest we have. Our Members of Parliament and Senators should be swearing their allegiance to the Bahamian people who elected them and whom they are supposed to serve, who pay them and to whom they are answerable.

"I think we have all of these trappings and if we look at it carefully, I don't think there's a moral leg to stand on to maintain these trappings. I just don't. The history of slavery and colonialism alone is enough."

For others, the so-called "trappings" are inconsequential. "Swearing our allegiance to the Queen is just a trapping, her heirs are her ministers, according to law, she has no power of her own," says Sir Arthur. "The British do it very well... the niceties of system, but she couldn't say today, no I cannot appoint you.'"

But if a post like the Governor General means nothing, why have one at all? "It was thought that at the time the connection with Britain ought to be maintained, and as a small country the idea of having a Royal Bahamas Police Force and the royal this and that would add to the country's stability and our attraction as a tourist destination," explains Sir Arthur.

On the more practical side, The Bahamas' decision to retain the Privy Council, which sits in London, as opposed to joining the regional Caribbean Court of Justice, continues to receive mixed reviews.

For well-known lawyer Damien Gomez, replacing the Privy Council, which is used by many countries in the English-speaking Commonwealth, is a non-issue.

"You don't give up something you have to get something less," he told The Nassau Guardian.
"We don't have the technical resources here, the expertise, to readily find a replacement [for the Privy Council] from our own Bar. We are having problems with our local courts. [Former Supreme Court justices are having trouble getting their pensions]. Most of the supreme courts are housed in an antiquated, obsolete building. Modern facilities are not available. For us to seriously speak about having a local final court of appeal we would have to address our own deficiencies, and no government since independence has taken the issue of resourcing the courts seriously."

Despite the expertise and perceived stability that a body like the Privy Council provides for countries like The Bahamas, some still feel that Bahamians should be able to decide what laws they wish to abide by.

"If it is argued for the sake of impartiality or protection against compromise in the judicial system because of our size, I think the next step should be a regional court," says Strachan.....

Full story

CARICOM TRAVEL CARD

Regional Heads agree to implement CARICOM travel card
Published on Thursday, July 5, 2007
Source: Caribbean Net News

Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have agreed on the implementation of a CARICOM travel card that will be issued to every CARICOM national except those on the Community’s watch list.

Mia Mottley, Deputy Prime Minister of BarbadosThis agreement came out of negotiations at the ongoing 28th CARICOM Heads of Government Summit being held in Barbados. According to Barbados’ Deputy Prime Minister Mia Motley, an implementation plan for the document will be put together and submitted to the Heads at the next inter-sessional meeting to be held in September. She pointed out that the card will virtually maintain the ‘single domestic space’ and holders will not need a passport, during inter-community travel.

Full story...

St. Lucia Committed to Regional Integration

St Lucia committed to regional integration says Acting PM
Published on Wednesday, July 4, 2007

By Gordon French

Caribbean Net News Guyana Correspondent

Email: gordon@caribbeannetnews.com

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Acting Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Stephenson King says, his country’s commitment to the ideals of regionalism and to the deepening of the integration process of CARICOM will increase.

Acting Prime Minister of St Lucia Stephenson King speaking at the official Opening Ceremony of the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Barbados on Sunday, King said the change of Government in Saint Lucia last December did not change the country’s “posture in relation to the Caribbean Community”.

King who is deputising for Sir John Compton, who is ailing, cautioned the Community not to be complacent in the face of the relatively trouble-free operation of the CARICOM Single Market since its inception in January 2006 and urged that careful monitoring of the implementation process be continued. He further noted that the Government of Saint. Lucia continued to sensitise the populace about the workings of the CARICOM Single Market and Econmy (CSME), and the benefits that were likely to be derived from its implementation.

“It is our belief that there is no such thing as too much information. Indeed, we have held the view that while some valuable work has been done in the Region to sensitise our people about this important matter, there is still a significant “information void” remaining to be filled,” King asserted.

The Saint Lucia acting Prime Minister expressed the hope that the Development Fund, as well as the provisions of the Special Regime for Less Developed Countries under Article 158 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, will be in operation quickly.

The Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community is being convened under the umbrella theme of functional cooperation, with special emphasis on critical areas of human and social development, such as education and health.

Funding the CCJ

T&T puts $200m in CCJ Trust Fund
Darryl Heeralal dheeralal@trinidadexpress.com
Saturday, June 30th 2007

Source:Trinidad Express

THIS country has contributed close to a third of the US$100 million for the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund.

Trinidad and Tobago loaned the Trust Fund US$29 million (TT$182.7 million) with the other 13 Caricom countries making up the rest.

Chairman of the board of trustees Dr Rollin Bertrand said yesterday that a schedule on how much money each country contributed was made out using a formula, which he said could be found on Caricom's website.

Bertrand was speaking at yesterday's signing of the agreement establishing the headquarters of the CCJ's Trust Fund between the Trinidad and Tobago Government and the Trust Fund.
The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Port of Spain.

The money from the trust fund was sourced through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) which secured loans from the participating governments.

Bertrand said that several foreign organisations including the European Union had expressed interest in how the fund was set up and the mechanisms behind it.

He explained that several people had concerns over the funding of the CCJ and the possible political influence because of it but he said that these concerns have been allayed because funding was secured through the CDB and not directly from Caricom member States.

Monies from the fund is invested both internationally and regionally and the proceeds will be used to fund the CCJ.

Bertrand said he was not in a position to make public the regional investment portfolios as if any of the companies was brought to court "linkages could be made".

Foreign Affairs Minister Arnold Piggott said that the setting up of the fund was essential to the establishment of the CCJ.

This country is yet to pass legislation making the CCJ our final appellate court.

DID YOU KNOW - Movement of Skilled Community Nationals

Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas

Article 45

"Member States commit themselves to the goal of free movement of their nationals within the Community"

Article 46
Member States have agreed...to accord the following categories of Community nationals the right to seek employment in their jurisdictions:

(a) University graduates
(b) Media Workers
(c) Sportspersons
(d) Artistes
(e) Musicians

Possible Case for CCJ?

Guyana rice producers threaten lawsuit against 2 regional importers
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -
Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20070622/APN/706220995

Guyanese rice producers are threatening legal action against two Caribbean island neighbors that buy subsidized rice from other regions without levying import taxes, an agriculture official said Friday. Montserrat, a British Caribbean territory, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines regularly buy rice from several Asian nations and the United States without levying mandatory import taxes, according to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud.

Persaud said Guyana, which is the region's largest rice producer, instructed the South American nation's rice export board to take their trade dispute to the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice, the highest judicial body for much of the region. Agriculture officials in Montserrat and St. Vincent did not immediately return calls for comment.

Rice is Guyana's third largest export earner after sugar and gold.

DID YOU KNOW? - REFERRAL TO THE COURT

REVISED TREATY OF CHAGUARAMAS ESTABLISHING THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY INCLUDING THE CARICOM SINGLE MARKET & ECONOMY

ARTICLE 214- REFERRAL TO THE COURT

"Where a national court or tribunal of a Member State is seised of an issue whose resolution involves a question concerning the interpretation or application of this Treaty, the court or tribunal concerned shall, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to deliver judgment, refer the question to the Court for determination before delivering judgment. "

ARTICLE 223 - PRIVATE ENTITIES

Persons, natural or juridical, of a Contracting Party may, with the special leave of the Court, be allowed to appear as parties in proceedings before the court where:

1. The Court has determined that the person has a right or benefit under the Treaty.

2. The person has established that he has been prejudiced.

3. That the Contracting Party ( Member State) has omitted or declined to bring up the claim or has expressly consented to the person bringing the matter on his own behalf.

4. The Court has found that the interest of justice requires that the person be allowed to bring up his claim.

For additional information: email your questions to deidrepowell@googlemail.com

TEST CASE?

Trinidad minister responds to expulsion of Caribbean journalists
Published on Tuesday, June 19, 2007
By Stephen Cummings - Caribbean Net News Trinidad and Tobago Correspondent

Email: stephen@caribbeannetnews.com

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad:

Trinidad and Tobago 's Foreign Affairs Minister Arnold Piggott has responded to the expulsion of two Caribbean Journalists from Antigua and Barbuda.

One journalist is Trinidad and Tobago national Vernon Khelawan, while the other is Dominican-born Lennox Linton.

Piggott, speaking in reference to Khelawan, said in his case he could apply for re-entry. Piggott said he had been in contact with the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and had been assured that the two expelled journalists can re-apply for entry into the island once the necessary immigration documents are submitted. "There is the right of any immigration authorities in any country to deny entry, if they have good reason or if they grant entry to an individual and later decide otherwise, to revoke that entry," said Piggot. "My ministry recognizes that Mr Khelawan, a national was involved in an incident, and we approached the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to obtain an explanation," said Piggott.

According to Piggott, Trinidad and Tobago had been provided with full information on the matter. However, the minister said there continues to be ongoing discussion on the development aimed at a resolution.

The issue has cast some shadow on the effectiveness of the free movement of workers initiative within the region and the Caricom Single Market and Economy CSME drive. Head of the CSME Unit in Trinidad Ambassador, Jerry Narace has rejected claims that the expulsion of the journalists was a sign of weakness in the system.

Both journalists were ordered to leave Antigua and Barbuda on the order of that country's Prime Minister, Balwin Spender after they were said to be in violation of immigration documents. Among the violations were the absence of work permits.

While many Caribbean countries now have a Caricom treaty which allows for free movement of media and other specific categories of workers within the region Antigua and Barbuda is one of those countries still to update its law in accordance with that treaty.

DID YOU KNOW? - NON-DISCRIMINATION

Article 7 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market & Economy states:

"Within the scope of application of this Treaty and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein, any discrimation on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited."

Closing the Circle of Independence - Pollard

Some people have asked what is a good book to read to gain information about the Caribbean Court of Justice and since my book is not yet published, I recommend Justice Duke Pollard's "The Caribbean Court of Justice, Closing the Circle of Independence. It was published in 2004, when he served as Director of CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility.

It details the development of the court and gives a comprehensive analysis of the courts original and appellate jurisdiction.

It is a must read for all CARICOM practitioners and the public at large, as the region marches towards a single market economy and as we strive to have our own final appellate court within our region.

Constitutional Reform on Jamaican Govt. Agenda

Gov't places constitutional reform back on agenda in election year
B. Henry

Jamaica Observer

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

THE Cabinet, in an unusual development yesterday, voted to table a Green Paper on constitutional reform in the House of Representatives today, effectively placing the issue, over which there are some areas of disagreement, firmly on the pre-election agenda.

Information Minister Donald Buchanan told yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House that the Green Paper will address a number of constitutional issues, dating back to 1991 when the current process originated.

"We have been going through some 15 continuous years of discussions and negotiations and we are satisfied that now is the appropriate time for us to place this Green Paper on the table of Parliament," Buchanan told reporters.

He added that it would, basically, ensure that the process is taken forward in this legislative year.

Among the primary issues to be addressed in this Green Paper are:
. the creation of a republican system, with the Queen replaced as Head of State by a president;
. the complete rewriting of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms;
. the substitution of the Caribbean Court of Justice for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as Jamaica's final court of appeal; and
. procedures with appropriate sanctions for parliamentary oversight of the executive;and changes in the composition of the Senate.

"We would want the Parliament of Jamaica, and by extension the people of Jamaica, to be fully aware of where we are so that, as we enter into a national general election some time within the next five months or so, that those issues will be squarely in front of the people, as well as the fact that, thereafter, the government of the day would have some level of obligation to carry forward this process," Buchanan said.He said that once the elections are over, there should be no retraction or reneging on the process.

Responding to questions about the Charter of Rights and the Caribbean Court of Justice, which have been debated outside the ambit of the current constitutional reform issues, Buchanan said: "We feel that all of these discussions are sufficiently advanced... so that we can incorporate them into this Green Paper as the basis for going forward."

He said that everything in the Green Paper would be debated. The issues in the Green Paper have not been the primary focus in the current election campaign, as discussions have been more centred on the economy, crime and the personalities.

Although a Green Paper is not an official government paper and is only tabled for discussions, its acceptance depends on what tactics the Government will use to get consensus on moving these issues forward, whoever wins the election.

The ruling People's National Party (PNP) and the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have agreed, basically, on the need for a republican system of government, a Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the need for procedures with appropriate sanctions for parliamentary oversight to control the power of the executive.

However, while the PNP wants an executive president, the JLP has been insisting on a symbolic head of state. The parties differ even more on the issue of the final court of appeal, with the JLP wanting to retain the Privy Council, at least for the time being.

Buchanan said the question of the composition of the Senate relates to whether independent persons should make up the membership.

But he insisted that in large measure, both sides have agreed in principle to these changes, which will require bipartisan support in Parliament or public approval via a referendum.

"It would be most unfortunate if these agreements, so painstakingly fashioned over the past 15 years, were to be abandoned in the course of the forthcoming election campaign or ignored thereafter," Buchanan said.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Cabinet takes another step towards constitutional reform

RJR, Jamaica

After more than 15 years of deliberations Cabinet has directed Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Dr. Peter Phillips, ...

Gov't places constitutional reform back on agenda in election year

Jamaica Observer, Jamaica -

THE Cabinet, in an unusual development yesterday, voted to table a Green Paper on constitutional reform in the House of Representatives today, ...

Public debate again on the Queen, constitutional reform

Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica -

Constitutional reform and the burning issues that accompany debate on this matter has once again been placed on the agenda for public debate.

Rastafarians Back CCJ

Rastafarians in Dominica back CCJ as Privy Council replacement

Source: radiojamaica

The Rastafarian movement in Dominica has thrown its support behind the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The movement says it is urging Caribbean leaders to exercise guts and make the institution their final court of appeal.

Spokesman for the Group, Ras Bernard Shaw, described the failure to participate fully in the CCJ as a form of mental slavery.He said this is hindering the development of Caribbean people. Mr. Shaw added that the Caribbean was sending the wrong message to the international community by not accepting the court. According to him, the non-acceptance of the court by some Caribbean countries was also a shame to African ancestors.

Caribbean countries established the CCJ nearly two years ago as a replacement for the London-based Privy Council. But while most states are members of the court as it relates to its original jurisdiction, only Barbados and Guyana utilize its appellate services.

.......................................................................

AND THE RASTAFARIANS IN JAMAICA SAY???????

Jamaica needs to be fully independent

LETTER OF THE DAY - Jamaica needs to be fully independent

published: Monday May 28, 2007

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

The Editor, Sir:

Having read an article in your daily paper of May 4 on page A7, penned by the Rev. Devon Dick, titled 'Britain still rules Jamaica', I feel compelled to add my little something. The Rev. Devon Dick is a man of great eminence and he speaks from his own mind and heart. I share every sentiment expounded in this article by him. Further, I deem this an excellent one and very timely to us in Jamaica.

What can we tell our children about Independence? After 45 years, we are still crying out in our courts; "OYEZ, OYEZ God save the Queen". While the sentiments of having Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth of England safe is nice, it should not proceed or pre-empt any opening of any court, tribunal or meeting in independent Jamaica. If anything, these public outcries for her safety should be said on only special days and functions, such as remembrance of her birthday and such events.

I think it has been a great indictment on the part of our leaders, both past and present, also on us as a people, that we have not enunciated with sufficient vehemencethat it is inappropriate that the British Monarchy is still Head of State for our independent Jamaica. Independence was granted from Great Britain in August 1962; people who were alive back then, if still alive, have passed through their youth, and have entered into at least middle age and beyond. So at 45 years (in a matter of months), we are no longer newly independent, but we should be seasoned in our independence.

We should be proud to be Jamaicans and lift up our heads in our independence, taking responsibility for ourselves and country. Come on, let us modify our civil service to fully address our needs. Let's remove our tails from between our legs and hold up our heads and proceed to the Caribbean Court of Justice as our own final court. Let us look at our laws and amend some to reflect the times, throw out some and put in others to reflect the needs of Jamaica. While not suggesting a total change just for change sake, I am proposing that we make adjustments where needed. Some laws that England had when we were a colony, they have since changed for England, but we still hang on to them.

The people of Jamaica need to be fully independent, where we can chart our own destiny. We are looking at another general election and the people need to impress upon our politicians that this is an issue to be addressed. We want to see it in their various manifestos, we want to hear it from the platforms and in any other forum that our politicians adopt. Indeed, we must demand that it be followed through on. I am aware that it is only us that can seek and through mitigation attain real change in our beloved Jamaica. As we are in the majority and as such have the real power, the power to elect and install a government. That government is supposed to work to the benefit of our Jamaica and her people. The time to act is now.

I am, etc.,
A. A. McCREATH
Mandeville, Jamaica

FINALIZE CSME

Bring to finality the creation of the single market, says Dominica minister
Source: Caribbean Net News

ROSEAU, Dominica:

Dominica's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Labour and new Chairman of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), Charles Savarin, has urged his colleague ministers of the imperative "to bring to finality the creation of the Single Market so that we may reap the benefits."

Full story...

DID YOU KNOW? - CARICOM PASSPORT

CARICOM Passport

Source: CARICOM website :

http://www.caricom.org/jsp/single_market/travel.jsp?menu=csme

Heads of Government agreed to the issuance of a CARICOM passport by Member States as a defining symbol of regionalism. The introduction of the CARICOM passport is also part of the measures to promote hassle-free travel for CARICOM nationals. A CARICOM passport is a National passport which is being issued in accordance with an agreed format for intra-regional and extra-regional travel.

On the cover it will have the logo of CARICOM and the words "Caribbean Community". The Coat of Arms and the name of the Member State are also featured on the cover. The CARICOM passport also creates awareness that CARICOM Nationals are Nationals of the Community, as well as a specific country. In 2005, Suriname was the first Member State to have issued the CARICOM Passport, followed by St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica. Antigua and Barbuda, issued the new Passport in 2006.

On 16 January 2007, Saint Lucia became the sixth Member State to have introduced the Passport, followed by the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada.

All other Member States are expected to introduce the CARICOM Passport by 31 December 2007.

Those States, which have not yet done so, are attempting to deplete their existing stock, before issuing the new CARICOM Passport.

http://www.caricom.org/jsp/single_market/travel.jsp?menu=csme

Britian Still Rules Jamaica

Britain still rules Jamaica

Source: Jamaica Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica

Published May 22, 2007

Devon Dick

Last week, a former Cabinet minister mentioned that the Governor-General of Jamaica, who is the representative of the Queen of the United Kingdom, has to get a visa in order to visit England. This is happening as Jamaica marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British colonies. At least when we were under slavery, the governor, the representative of the British Crown in Jamaica, could travel to England without a visa.

In addition, the British visa is more expensive that a United States visa. Is it because Jamaica to London is further than Jamaica to California? Four years ago, as part of a delegation, courtesy of the U.K. Evangelical Association, I met with the persons responsible for implementing the visa regime at the Home Office. At this cordial meeting, I told them that the system as implemented was a moneymaking exercise. It is a great source of revenue.

The day Jamaicans were required to obtain a visa to travel to the U.K. should have been the day we abolished the monarchy. The day when a Jamaican appellant is initially denied a visa to appear before the Privy Council should be the day we resolve to remove the Privy Council.

That in the bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade we are still having the British Queen as Head of State means that, symbolically, Britain still rules Jamaica politically. How does one explain to a child, in a so-called independent Jamaica, that the British Queen is Jamaica's Head of State? How does one tell a child that he or she can never aspire to be the head of state of his or her own country because that position is reserved only for the British?

That the Privy Council is Jamaica's highest court means that judicially Britain still rules Jamaica. In addition, the Privy Council's ruling telling Jamaica the only way it can implement a Caribbean Court of Appeal means that Britain rules us legislatively.

It is therefore sad that in this 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British colonies, there is no movement to rid the country of the vestiges of slavery. This will not come from Britain because the British politicians still have a colonial mentality. Britain still has colonies, such as Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Saint Helena, Falkland Islands (Argentina wants it), Gibraltar (Spain wants it) and Turks and Caicos Islands, etc.

British monarchy

It is sad that in the recent Budget debate, I did not hear one speaker mention the abolition of the British monarchy or the Privy Council. The Most Honourable P.J. Patterson made two timid steps towards self-determination by reintroducing the celebration of Emancipation Day and making our political servants swear to the people of Jamaica instead of to the British Queen.
But compared to what other politicians have requested or done since 1962, he was a bold man and most conscious of all politicians.

It is sad that no church synod or assembly in this significant year, to the best of my knowledge, has called for the replacing of the British monarch.

And only the Anglican Church, three years ago, called upon the nation to establish a Caribbean Court of Appeal.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the 175th anniversary of the execution of Sam Sharpe and it would be a fitting tribute to our National Hero if belatedly we abolish the British Crown as our Head of State and get rid of the Privy Council as our highest court, releasing the tentacles of British rule.

Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.

Links Between Business & CCJ

CCJ has major role in developing indigenous jurisprudence, economic integration
General News - Monday, May 21st 2007
Source: Stabroek News

The Caribbean Court of Justice has an important role to play in the development of an indigenous jurisprudence in the Commonwealth Carib-bean as well as in the success of the regional movement towards economic integration, says President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Justice Michael de la Bastide.

He also quipped that as businessmen and women they might also wish to ponder on the folly of paying for something (as the Court has been paid for by the establishment of the Trust Fund) and then not using it.

The title of the address was "Links between business and the Caribbean Court of Justice".
Explaining linkages between business and the CCJ, he pointed out that it had been recognised within recent years that for a Court to be successful it was essential that techniques and systems be employed in its management which are essentially the same as those in the running of a successful business. Another link of quite a different kind, he noted, is that created by the access which individuals and companies engaged in cross-border business in CARICOM have to the CCJ for obtaining redress when impacted by breaches of the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

CLICK LINK ABOVE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

Role of CCJ

Private sector needs to be more aware of CCJ role

General News - Monday, February 26th 2007

Source: STABROEK NEWS

Declaring that it would "be a tragedy of mammoth proportions if the CCJ was not allowed for whatever reasons to realise its full potential", the President of the court says the regional private sector needs to be more aware of the role of the CCJ.

Delivering the main address at the Rotary Club of Georgetown World Under-standing Dinner at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel on Saturday evening, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Michael de la Bastide told his audience that if the CCJ was not allowed to realise its full potential the Caribbean would have "lost an opportunity which may not come again for several generations." To date only Guyana and Barbados have used the court since it was inaugurated on April 16, 2005.

He opined that it was still too early to be concerned over the fact that the CCJ has not yet been called upon to exercise its original jurisdiction (as it relates to the Caricom Single Market) since the experience of most newly established courts is that during the first few years of their existence, business tends to be very slow.

He was concerned that persons with a right of access to the court might not recognise the circumstances in which that right could be used to their advantage. While, he said it was not his purpose to stir up litigation he sensed that a greater awareness was needed by the private sectors of what the CCJ has to offer if it is to play its part in deepening regional integration and contributing to the success of the CSME.

Speaking on the role of the CCJ in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), Justice de la Bastide said that when one considers the several rights and freedoms which the Caricom Revised Treaty seeks to establish in the creation of a single economic space; the general prohibition in Article 7 of the treaty against discrimination on the ground of nationality alone; and the provisions of the treaty designed to eradicate anti-competitive business conduct within the region, one might well conclude that the breach by a member state of virtually any provisions of the treaty is capable of qualifying as the subject of complaint in proceedings brought by an individual or company. He said he had a "nagging doubt" whether these options were fully appreciated by lawyers within Caricom, not to mention the clients whom they advise.

Referral

He said there were two other sources from which matters could go to the CCJ - by way of the referral of a question of interpretation or application of the Treaty by a national court, and by way of a request for an advisory opinion.

Referral to the CCJ of any question or issue arising in proceedings before the national courts which involve the interpretation or application of the treaty to the CCJ was an important part of the exclusivity of the regional court's jurisdiction. If the resolution of such an issue is necessary for the national court to deliver judgment, then that court "shall… refer the question to the Court, for determination before delivering judgment."

The underlying purpose of this provision, he said, was to ensure that there is uniform interpretation of the treaty throughout Caricom and to eliminate the risk of national courts giving different interpretations of the same provisions of the treaty.

"It is obviously crucial to investor confidence that there should be legal certainty with regard to the rules governing the CSME and this can only be achieved if there is a single, authoritative voice interpreting and applying the Treaty," he said.

Revise

Another feature of the court's jurisdiction is that it was final and there is no appeal of the court's decisions. However, power was given to the CCJ to revise its own judgments if some crucial fact was discovered after judgment was given.

While judgments of the CCJ are binding and enforceable, Justice de la Bastide said that unfortunately, all the necessary steps, including the enactment of legislation to give the CCJ teeth and to ensure that the CCJ judgments are enforced as if they were judgments of a local superior court, have not achieved their objectives.

He said Member States have simply reproduced "Article XXVI in the local act and so incorporate in the domestic law the obligation to pass the necessary legislation, without actually passing it. Hopefully, the parliamentary counsel concerned would recognize and take steps to correct this mistake."

In terms of limitations, he said that an important one was that the dispute must concern the interpretation or application of the treaty. He gave the example of fishing disputes between Member States which have nothing to do with the treaty but depend on the application of the International Law of the Sea. There have been several of these including one between Barbados and Trinidad which was taken to an international tribunal.

On the other hand there are provisions which give companies and individuals, access to the CCJ. He said that normally treaties only confer rights and impose obligations on states which adhere to them and not on companies or individuals. The core jurisdiction of the CCJ, however, is over disputes between Member States or between a Member State and Caricom.

In terms of a request for an advisory opinion from the CCJ, Justice de la Bastide said that "advisory opinions may be requested only by a Member State or by the Community." For Member States in dispute, he said that proceeding by way of a request for an advisory opinion may be an attractive option since it is less expensive and less adversarial than litigation.

Generally speaking, he said, "many people in the region harbour the unspoken fear that the CSME might like the ill-fated West Indies Federation, become another over-ambitious project that skidded off a paved road with good intentions." The CCJ itself could play a pivotal role in preventing this from happening by its judgments to transform the aspirations of the treaty into reality without sending shock waves that might threaten the fragile structure of the CSME.

He gave the example of dealing with inconsistencies between the domestic law and the treaty which would most likely arise.

Though time did not permit him to explore this subject in any depth, he noted that the European Court of Justice has held that the EEC (European Economic Com-mission) Treaty created its own legal order which was directly applicable both to member states and to their nationals, but this the court held, was the result of a partial transfer of sovereignty from the Member States to the Community."

He felt that for Guyana, the problem may have been made less intractable by the Caricom Act, 2006, which gives the Treaty the force of law and contains in Section 8(1) the provision which states that, "In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Act and the operation of any other law other than the Constitution, the provisions of this Act shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency."

Unfortunately, he said that a similar provision was not to be found in corresponding acts passed in some of the other member states such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Belize.

Conscious of the heavy responsibility which the court has to discharge, Justice de la Bastide said that he was by no means daunted by it and suggested that the people of Caricom share in the confidence and optimism he feels in facing the challenges ahead.

Giving a background to the establishment of the court including the appointment of a commission to appoint the judges and technical staff, its financing, and operationalising, he credited the Heads of Government for the provisions that provide the court with protection against political or any other form of interference.

He said that his confidence and optimism was also based on the past 18 months of working with the six judges who come from a variety of backgrounds bringing expertise and experience in different branches of the law.

On a lighter note, Justice de la Bastide said that personal contact was an important precursor to regional integration and it struck him that the matter of the free movement of people within Caricom, is a matter of seeking to recover lost ground after gaining independence.

Citing a number of examples, he said that he was old enough to remember a time in the pre-independence era when free movement of people in the region was a reality and not a goal.

He gave examples of contributions in the freedom of movement of people such as the composer of T&T national anthem, Pat Castagne, who was born in British Guiana to Guianese parents and taken to T&T as a small child; communication specialist, Kit Nascimento, his senior at St Mary's College in T&T making his mark in swimming there; then young tennis player Ian Mc Donald of T&T, who made his mark blossoming in Guyana as a novelist and poet; and Barbadian-born cricketer Sir Clyde Walcott, who played and coached cricket for Guyana while remaining an icon back in his native country.

Pratt Freed

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Source: Jamaica Observer

Earl Pratt and Mary Lynch were yesterday released from prison, just over an hour apart, in dramatic scenes that again turned national spotlight on both convicted murderers who served a combined 44 years at two of the island's maximum security prisons.....

Pratt was just 18 when he and his friend Ivan Morgan were arrested for the murder of businessman Junior Anthony Missick in 1977. Both men were sentenced to death in 1979.However, in 1994 their sentences were commuted to life by the Privy Council in a landmark ruling that made it illegal for persons on death row for more than five years to be executed.

Morgan eventually died of natural causes in prison.

Complete Story ...

Privy Council 1993 Decision :

_FIRST COPY
View as HTML

Earl Pratt and Ivan Morgan Appellants v. The Attorney General of Jamaica & The Superintendent of Prisions

Death Sentence - Delay - Jamaican Constititution

www.privy-council.org.uk/files/other/PRATTJ~1.rtf -

Caribbean Must Deepen Integration

Caribbean must deepen integration,

says OAS Assistant Secretary General

WASHINGTON, USA:

Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin of the Organization of American States conveyed to a Saint Lucia seminar that, as small and vulnerable economies, Caribbean states have no choice but to deepen their regional integration; it is simply a choice of how quickly and how deeply.

That was the message Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin of the Organization of American States (OAS) conveyed to a Saint Lucia seminar that brought together parliamentarians, including trade ministers, from the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM), made up of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states and the Dominican Republic.

Full story...

LEGISLATIONS TO DATE

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

1. The Caribbean Community Skilled National Act No. 3 of 1997
2. The Caribbean Community Act No . 9 of 2004
3. The Caribbean Court of Justice Act. No. 10 of 2004

BARBADOS

1. The Caribbean Court of Justice CAP. 117
2. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Amendment ) Act No 8. of 2005
3. The Caribbean Community (Movement of Skilled Nationals) CAP. 186 A
4. The Caribbean Community (Amendment) Act No. 10 of 2005
5. The Caribbean Community Act No. 8 of 2003

BELIZE

1. The Caribbean Community (Movement of Factors ) Act No. 15 of 2004
2. The Caribbean Community ( Movement of Factors) ( Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2004
3. Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities ( Caribbean Court of Justice and Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission) Order No. 209 of 2004
4. The Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund Act No. 21 of 2004
5. The Caribbean Court of Justice ( Original Jurisdiction) Act No. 16 of 2004
6. The Caribbean Community Act No. 17 of 2004

DOMINICA

1. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Original Jurisdiction) Act No. 23 of 2005

GRENADA

1. The Caribbean Community (Free Entry of Skilled National) Cap 93:02
2. The Caribbean Court of Justice Act 16 of 2004
3. Protocol to the Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Act No. 17 of 2004
4. The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Regional Judicial Legal Services Commission Bill 2004 Act No. 18 of 2004
5. The Caribbean Court of Justice Fund Agreement act No. 19 of 2004
6. The Caribbean Community Act No. 8 of 2006

JAMAICA

1. The Caribbean Community ( Free Movement of Skilled Person) Act 18 of 1997
2. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Original Jurisdiction) Act No. 17 of 2005
3. The Caribbean Community Act 15 of 2004
4. The Caribbean Community Act Including the Caribbean Single Market Economy Act No. 37 of 2004

SURINAME

1. Act containing the approval of the Agreement with regard to the establishing of the Caribbean Court of Justice Act No. 22 of 2003
2. Act containing the approval of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market Economy Act No. 24 of 2003

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

1. The Caribbean Community (Removal of Restrictions ) Act No. 2 of 2005
2. The Caribbean Community Act No. 3 of 2005
3. The Caribbean Court of Justice Act No. 3 of 2005
4. The Caribbean Court of Justice Act No. 8 of 2005
5. Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) (Amendment) Act No. 18 of 2003
6. Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) (Amendment ) Act No. 6 of 2001
7. Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) Act No. 26 of 1996
8. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Amendment to the First Schedule) Order, 2006 Legal Notice 156
9. Act to Provide for the Implementation of the Revised Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund and for related Matters Act No. 19 of 2006

ST KITTS AND NEVIS

1. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Original Jurisdiction) Act No. 7 of 2004

ST LUCIA

1. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Agreement ) Act No. 34 of 2003
2. The Caribbean Court of Justice (Agreement) (Amendment) Act No 5 of 2005
3. The Caribbean Community (Movement of Factors) Act N. 21 of 2006
4. The Caribbean Community Act No 12 of 2004
5. The Caribbean Community Skilled National Act No. 18 of 1996

ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES

1. The Caribbean Court of Justice Act No. 32 of 2004
2. The Caribbean Community Movement of Factors Act No. 23 of 2004
3. The Protocol on the Status, Privileges and Immunities of the Caribbean Court of Justice Act No. 48 of 2004
4. Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Act 51 of 2004
5. The Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund Act No. 49 of 2004
6. The Caribbean Community Act No. 5 of 2005

It's an Access to Justice Issue!!!!!!!!!

Former teacher gets help to appeal case in UK

Source: Jamaica Gleaner www.jamaica-gleaner.com

published: Thursday October 19, 2006

ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Justice, A.J. Nicholson, has intervened in the case involving Easton Grant, a Jamaican man, who is attempting to represent himself before the London-based Privy Council, but has been refused a visa to enter England.

Mr. Nicholson yesterday wrote to the British High Commissioner Jeremy Creswell, seeking a reversal of the decision.

Mr. Grant, a former teacher at the Montego Bay Community College in St. James, is seeking to have his termination of employment deemed illegal. He has so far been unsuccessful, having exhausted the local courts and has been granted leave by the Court of Appeal to take his case to the London lawlords.

Turned down

His case hearing is set for October 30 and 31, but the English High Commission turned down his visa application saying he had not demonstrated that he will return to Jamaica.

In his letter to Mr. Creswell yesterday, Mr. Nicholson noted that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council remains Jamaica's final court of appeal.

"This, I believe, clearly implies that litigants will have access to their final court without impediment, and should not be denied the right to pursue their appeals to the highest level.

To date, Mr. Grant has opted to argue his case without legal representation, as is his right: he should be permitted to continue to do so especially before our highest court," Mr. Nicholson said.

Dwarka Nauth v. Attorney General of Guyana et al

CCJ Application No. AL. 7 of 2006

Date of Hearing : Monday the 7th day of May 2007 at 10 am

Judges: The Rt. Hon. Mr Justice M. de la Bastide, President

The Hon. Mr. Justice R. Nelson JCCJ

The Hon. Mme. Justice D. Bernard JCCJ

Dwarka Nauth

v.

The Attorney General of Guyana

The Public Service Commission

The Regional Executive Officer

The Minister of Finance

Hearing of Application for Special leave to appeal and Special leave to appeal as a poor person.

Attorneys for Applicant : Mr Benjamine E. Gibson, Ms. Mandisa A Breedy, Mr Ruidyard W. Ceres

Attorney at Law for the Respondent : Mr Vashist Maharaj, Ms. Young

HELD: APPLICATIONS DISMISSED

NO ORDERS AS TO COSTS

Ensnaring the CCJ

Ensnaring the CCJ

Source : Trinidad Express Sun, 06 May 2007

FOR the life of the current Manning administration now approaching its constitutional close, Trinidad and Tobago has been embarrassed by a turnaround from one administration to the other, on this perplexing question of the country's accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
That the court is established in Port of Spain was as a direct result of the commitment to it, and the campaigning for its siting, conducted by the predecessor administration in government, the United National Congress (UNC).

As Prime Minister Manning reminded the country once again during his fourth consultation on crime in Tobago on Saturday, the UNC changed its mind after it lost office and withdrew its support for the court.

Withholding its support for legislation necessary give effect to the court in its appellate jurisdiction, the UNC has frustrated the intention of this country to access the court as its final appellate body, replacing the Privy Council.

Whereas this is also the case with Caricom partner Jamaica, the difference is that the Opposition has never been as favourable to this move as the UNC had been while in office.

But by tying the desire for the country to move towards a totally indigenous and independent judicial system to the issue of the death penalty, the Prime Minister may have once again complicated matters, giving the erroneous impression that a CCJ will automatically be more sympathetic to the wishes of this or any other Caribbean nation's governments.

Indeed, this is the very ruse by which the UNC has sought to build its about-face on the CCJ, citing its fears about interference and political manipulation. A fanciful, self-interested and hypocritical argument, to say the least.

To be correct, the Privy Council has, by its famous ruling in the Jamaican case of Pratt and Morgan, imposed a five-year limit within which the death penalty must be carried out on anyone so convicted.

Restating a long-held, unwavering element of public opinion, the Prime Minister told his audience in Tobago that capital punishment was an essential element in crime-fighting. For good measure also, he added that he was "a strong supporter" of capital punishment.

By suggesting, however, that a CCJ would, ipso facto, be more favourable to any administration's wishes on enforcement of the death penalty, or on any other issue for that matter, the Prime Minister and the administration for which he speaks, is doing untold damage to the cherished independence of the court.

There is, and never will be, any such guarantee, and any intimations to this effect are just wishful thinking at best, but dangerous, counter-productive and distracting as well.

Constituted as it is at present, the CCJ, led by former Trinidad and Tobago chief justice Michael de la Bastide, comprises some of the best, most robustly independent and thorough-going members of the regional system of jurisprudence.

Unequivocally, every effort must continue to be made to convince those across the region who remain sceptical and untrusting about the need for a full embrace of the CCJ. But those who read into it any misguided notions about advancing their own political or other narrow, immediate agendas must also be warned off such misguided paths.