Owen Arthur calls for support of CCJ

Colonial attitude to CCJ
Source: radiojamaica.com - Jamaica
June 4, 2008

Former Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur said greater power must be given to CARICOM institutions to allow them to implement decisions made at the regional level. Mr. Arthur, now an opposition Member of Parliament said the failure of all but two CARICOM countries to identify fully with the Caribbean Court of Justice is a symbol of a continuing colonial attitude.

He was speaking recently in Trinidad and Tobago at the launch of a new forum on policy and leadership.

Freed of the responsibility of holding Prime Ministerial office, Mr. Arthur said the region must not be timid in taking political and economic decisions. He said there is a new world of international trade which requires reciprocity.

Mr. Arthur said the old, one way free trade arrangement has vanished around the bend in the river.

Public Opinion

The single market and economy needs to be promoted among ordinary people in a more practical way

Source: Stabroek News - Letters

June 2, 2008

Dear Editor,
It is unfortunate that at this juncture of our history as a Caribbean region, a sister country would callously disrespect the citizens of another sister country. I refer to the incident where some twelve Guyanese were refused entry by the Trinidad immigration authorities last week. This unwelcome act comes at a most inappropriate time when Guyana is slated to host Carifesta X, to which I am positive Trinidad, like other Caribbean countries, hopes to send its contingent.

This is also a time when great emphasis is placed on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), which seeks to encourage the free movement of skills throughout the region; a time when the Caribbean Court of Justice has emerged as the final court of appeal for certain member states; a time when foreign affairs ministries are issuing Caricom Skilled Certificates to their citizens in order that skills are easily transferred or exchanged within the region, thereby aiding in the efforts to collectively tackle some of the new and emerging challenges of globalization.

The actions of the Trinidadian immigration authorities, clearly, do not augur well for this spirit of ‘oneness’ which we in the Caribbean have been dying to achieve since the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973.

It is regrettable that while Caricom as well as governments within the region continue to promote policies aimed at fostering greater cohesion, unity, economic co-operation, etc, not much work is being done at the local level to ensure that the people subscribe to the ideals which will help to achieve the objectives of those policies. From what transpired at the Piarco Airport, it is obvious that there is a big disconnect between the immigration officers, junior level government employees, and the Manning cabinet. Imagine what might be the extent of the disconnect between the people at the grassroots level and the cabinet? This disconnect might not be a situation peculiar to Trinidad but might very well be a common thread that runs through countries of the region.

Guyanese have been experiencing this kind of unwelcoming treatment from various countries of the region, in particular Barbados, but it was hoped that with all these new initiatives by Caricom that the situation would have changed. However, it now seems that might not be the case. It is therefore fitting that Caribbean governments and the Caricom Secretariat take on a more proactive role in meeting the ordinary people in the community to aggressively promote the single market and economy concept in a practical way. Special training should be given regularly to immigration officers and airport workers to sensitize them to the critical role they have to play in this process, since in most instances they are the first to have contact with these new workers or migrants.

I hope that Caricom, through its secretariat, does not allow this matter to fester, but that it will take urgent measures to ensure that the Guyana government and the Trinidad government settle this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Lurlene Nestor

Privy Council/ CCJ

The Reporter Sunday, 11 May 2008

Harry Lawrence - Publisher

A British court in London ruled this week that it has jurisdiction to decide disputes between the Government of Belize and the Belize Bank Limited. In doing so, the court simply ignored the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Belize.

The British court claimed jurisdiction on the strength of an agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Belize, Mr. Said Musa, and the Belize Bank. The agreement stipulates that any dispute between the government and the Belize Bank would be determined not by a Belize court but by a British court.

This is only one of several bizarre arrangements which Mr. Musa made while he was Prime Minister of Belize. He signed another agreement stipulating that Belize Telecommunications Limited, the monopoly utility company now under Mr. Ashcroft’s control, is to be allowed to make a profit of 15 percent on its operations, and that the Government of Belize would make up the short-fall when profits fell below 15 percent.

He also signed an agreement guaranteeing government secrecy about this and other agreements he had signed.

These secret arrangements have allowed a few favoured companies to exploit consumers in Belize by making immoral profits. They are also being used now to frustrate the legitimate resolve of the new government and limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Any arrangement by any Prime Minister to limit or in any way circumscribe the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in Belize is unconstitutional and ought to be resolutely resisted. The Prime Minister has no authority to do anything which would have this result.

The Prime Minister’s office combines administrative and executive and legislative powers but he had no authority over the judiciary and no powers to limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
We believe that the arrangement to keep certain agreements secret and hidden from public view is a corrupt practice which will have the most serious consequences. The practice of guaranteeing certain favoured companies a minimum profit of 15 percent on their operations is also a corrupt practice - exploitative in nature and intrinsically unjust.

This is a case which should quite definitely go before the Caribbean Court of Justice and not the Privy Council because it deals with a conflict between British jurisdiction and the Belize jurisdiction.

Belize should pursue its case vigorously before the Caribbean Court of Justice and not be intimidated by the British court.

Race and CCJ

MP pulls up UNC-A over ethnic talk
Ria Taitt Political Editor

T&T Express
Saturday, May 10th 2008

The UNC-A cannot speak about ethnic balance in the panel of judges at the Caribbean Court of Justice, when its own parliamentary bench is hardly reflective of this kind of balance, Information Minister Neil Parsanlal said yesterday.

Speaking in the House of Representatives on the CCJ bill yesterday, Parsanlal stated: "Before I can take out the beam in anybody else's eye, I have to take out the mote in my own. Is the ethnic composition, because that is what they are talking about, is the ethnic composition of that bench reflective of the people of Trinidad and Tobago? I submit it is not," he said.

He said on the PNM side, there were "cocoa payol, some half-Chinese, some Indian, some African and me, the quintessential dougla".

"The PNM is reflective of the face of Trinidad and Tobago," he declared. Parsanlal also criticised the constant references by UNC-A speakers to African dictators.

"When references are made to dictators, it is always about Zimbabwe and Mugabe. All the references speak to people who look a particular way and who live in a particular place. There is absolutely no reference to any other countries where there might be dictators. MP for Mayaro (Winston Gypsy Peters), how is it that no references are made, for instance, to dictators from Pakistan?" Parsanlal waxed poetic as he quoted the "quintessential Caribbean man", Black Stalin. He said if he were an East Indian judge, he would feel insulted if he was appointed to the CCJ just because of his race. That would amount to "tokenism" and "patronage", he said.

On Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj's charge that CCJ judges had no work to do and were sipping coffee and reading papers, Parsanlal said he would not be surprised if citizens mistook that for rumshop talk.

"I want to assure the national community that no alcohol is served in the tea-room." Parsanlal also dismissed allegations that CCJ judges were being favoured, saying that some allowances given to local judges were not given to CCJ judges.

COTED or CCJ?

Taking Jamaica's case to COTED

Jamaica Gleaner Editorial

published: Friday May 9, 2008

This weekend, Caricom's Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), the ministerial group that oversees broad economic issues within the 15-member community, holds a regular meeting in Barbados.

However, it is unlikely that this session of COTED will be taken with the routine dispensing of issues. It could be a rather contentious gathering of ministers. And Jamaica will be at the forefront of the arguments, pursuing what it sees as a critical point of national interest: ensuring the security of food supplies.

COTED is an important forum; it is the ministers who sit in this forum who, generally, decide on any varying of Caricom's Common External Tariff (CET), that is, the rate of duty that member states apply to imports from third countries to protect regional production.

Opposition to suspension

At issue is Jamaica's application for the suspension of the 25 per cent CET on the importation of up to 34,000 tonnes of rice so as to cover what Kingston insists is a shortfall in supplies from with the community. Guyana, Caricom's major supplier of rice, opposes the suspension. According to Georgetown, its producers can meet all of Jamaica's demands.

A substantial part of the problem, it appears, is that Jamaica does not like the fact that Guyana will not commit to forward contracts beyond a month, given the global spike in commodity prices, including that for rice. So, to put it bluntly, Jamaica's trade minister, Karl Samuda, feels that with the Guyanese hoping to maximise returns from purchasers who are willing and capable of paying higher prices, Jamaica is being shafted. And rice is a staple in Jamaica, even though we do not - having a long time ago abandoned the effort - grow the stuff.

There are a number of things that must happen in Barbados, not least of which is that Guyana must come clean on the supply issue. Kingston needs to be satisfied that Georgetown is abiding by both the letter and spirit of the rules.

Single economy pretensions

This, after all, is no arbitrary trade arrangement. Caricom is a single market, with pretensions towards a single economy. In that regard, we expect Jamaica, or any other member of the community, to be subject to the same pricing terms in the purchase of rice as any Guyana buyer - except for the cost of shipping. Trying to squeeze higher prices out of Jamaican purchasers, if that is what Guyana is attempting to achieve by insisting only on short-term contracts, will not do. Jamaica has to be assured, in so far as possible, of a certainty of supply.

But by the same token, Kingston has to take on board the fact of the rise in the price of rice on the global market, and to consider this matter of food security in the broader regional context rather than a purely domestic issue. For, as Mr Samuda will be aware, we have in the past undermined domestic agriculture and weakened food security by the full embrace of cheap and subsidised imports. The revival of a Regional Food Plan, which foundered in the 1980s, is important.

But if Jamaica feels that Guyana is playing games and it gets no satisfaction at COTED, it should test Georgetown's behaviour at the Caribbean Court of Justice which, in its original jurisdiction, interprets the Caricom treaty.

China Supports CARICOM Integration

Premier Wen: China supports Caribbean integration process
Source: www.chinaview.cn

2008-05-06

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday that China supported the Caribbean integration process.

"China will strengthen dialogue with the Caribbean community based on mutual respect, reciprocity and equality to promote south-south cooperation and achieve common prosperity," said Wen.

He made the remarks during a meeting with David Thompson, prime minister of Barbados, who arrived in Beijing on Monday for a four-day official visit to China.

Wen said China and Barbados had maintained good cooperation in the areas of trade, technology, and personnel training as well as in such international organizations as the United Nations.

"Both China and Barbados are developing nations and enjoy common interests," Wen said. He vowed to expand cooperation with Barbados on trade, tourism, architecture and sustainable development.

Thompson expressed gratitude for China's support to his country's economic and social development.

He said Barbados attached importance to relations with China and would continue adherence to the one-China policy. He also said that Barbados supported the Beijing Olympic Games and China's participation in the Inter-American Development Bank.

CCJ Michael De La Bastide defends CCJ

More than just sipping coffee

Source: Trinidad Express

Sat, 03 May 2008 9:29 PM PDT

It is not true that the judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice have no work to do and spent their time "drinking coffee and reading papers".

President of the CCJ Michael De La Bastide, in a interview at his Henry Street, Port of Spain, office, said the court has been receiving cases from Guyana and Barbados, which have approved the CCJ in both its original and final jurisdiction.

The interview was done shortly after the debate on the CCJ bill in the House of Representatives.
De La Bastide said 14 appeals were filed in 2007 -12 from Guyana and two from Barbados. He stressed, however, that it was the experience of all newly established courts -regional, international and domestic-that it took time for the volume of cases to build. He said this was the case with Canada, when its Supreme Court was established in 1949 and that the same thing happened in New Zealand and the International Criminal Court.

"I have no doubt that as time goes out, even without the accessation of other states, the workload of the court would increase. And I have in mind, the original jurisdiction," De La Bastide stated.

Businesses were beginning to recognise that they have a possibility of getting redress for breaches of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, he said. And, he contended: "If the feeling is that the Caricom member-states are not getting full value for their money from the court, then the answer is to use it."

De la Bastide said it was unfortunate that the decision on whether to transfer appeals from the Privy Council to the CCJ had become so highly politicised. "Fundamentally it should not be a party/political view," he said.

De La Bastide said he was "flabbergasted" by a idea he heard on television (during the debate on the CCJ bill in the Parliament two weeks ago) of using the CCJ as a second appeal court, allowing for final appeals to the Privy Council.

"Is this going to be an act of kindness to litigants? To interpose yet another stage of appeal en route to the final appeal? Is the CCJ to be put on probation and depending on how accurate it can forecast the way in which each case is decided by the Privy Council ... it would then be trusted to make a final decision? he asked.

Speaking in a Jamaican dialect, he quipped that this was "bias against local in favour of foreign".
The CJ president also dismissed statements made during the same debate that the local Court of Appeal generally got it wrong because the Privy Council overturned over 50 per cent of its decision.

"It is based on an irrebuttable presumption that the Privy Council gets it right every time. Despite the great respect I have for their Lordships, that is a presumption that is totally irrational," said De La Bastide, who is himself a member of the Privy Council.

"Apart from the possibility that there may be more than one 'right solution' to a legal question, what may establish one's preference for one (solution), rather than the other, is the extent to which it would favour or be favoured by local conditions," he said.

He noted that some of the Privy Councillors had a knowledge of the handicap they operated under when determining cases for a society with which they were entirely unfamiliar.

De La Bastide, who has been a defender of judicial independence throughout his career, stressed that he remained unrepentant in this regard and pointed to the measures taken to protect judicial independence in the establishment of the CCJ.

He complimented Caricom states and the Heads of Government on the quality of the arrangements made to protect the court from political and other extraneous influence and noted that many judges of regional and international courts were "envious" of these arrangements.

"No member of the Regional Judicial Legal Service Commission owes his seat to any politician or to political connections. The president is appointed by the majority of Heads (of Government). But their choice is restricted by someone recommended by the RJLSC," he stated.

Similarly, he noted, judges can only be removed after an enquiry by a independent tribunal.

Suggesting that the CCJ judgments were of a high quality, De La Bastide said that the West Indian Law Report published by Butterworth in England, which has tended to report only Privy Council judgments, had been reporting many of the judgments of the CCJ. In Volume 69 of last year, five judgments of the CCJ have been selected for reporting, he said.

De La Bastide also said it would be nothing short of a "regional tragedy" were the CCJ not permitted to achieve its full potential.

He stressed that this potential involved the Court fulfilling its "two-fold function of supporting regional integration and of administering justice effectively and appropriately to the peoples of Caricom.

"If the opportunity which the establishment of this court has now created is thrown away, then I fear it may be a long, long time, if ever, it comes again," he said.

National vs Regional Court ( T&T)

Volney: Govt is favouring CCJ
Wednesday, April 30th 2008
Source: Trinidad & Tobago Express

THE debate over the amount of money spent behind the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) entered the Hall of Justice yesterday, when Justice Herbert Volney complained about the malfunctioning public address (PA) system in the Port of Spain Second Criminal Court.

Volney said the PA system in the High Court had not been working for the past five years, but the CCJ had a system where you could hear "a pin drop".

He made the statement after the 12-member jury complained about not being able to hear the testimony of police constable Kishaa Mungroo.

Mungroo took the witness stand yesterday in the murder trial of Anthony Mc Carthy, who was fatally shot near his mother's Laventille apartment on May 16, 2006.

Two men, Ijah Oba Braithwaite and Marlon Taitt, are accused of shooting to death the 47-year-old former URP foreman, who was also a State witness in the April 2005 shooting death of his nephew, Oba Jones.

The debate over the Caribbean Court of Justice (Headquarters) Bill, 2008 originally took place in the Upper House, where the bill was passed and then at the Lower House last week. Many opposition ministers and senators critised Government for pumping millions of dollars into the court, since the judges had very little work at this stage, since the court was yet to be accepted as the highest court in most Caribbean countries.

The CCJ, under its original jurisdiction, is the final court of appeal for all trade matters within the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom). It also has an appellate jurisdiction as the final court of appeal for Guyana and Barbados at this time, as other Caricom member states like Trinidad and Tobago are yet to replace it with the United Kingdom's Privy Council.

During his testimony, Mungroo said he took several swabs of Taitt's hands a few days after the fatal shooting of Mc Carthy and it showed he did not shoot a gun.

State prosecutor Jerron Joseph also had tough luck with his second witness, police officer Michael Alleyne, when Volney ruled Alleyne's testimony as inadmissible.

Joseph then called police constable Randy Ramjag as his third witness for the day.

Defence attorneys Selywn Mohammed and Ulric Skerritt represent the two accused men. The matter is expected to continue today. -JJ

Land Dispute Case at the CCJ

Guyana land dispute case starts at CCJ today
Monday, April 28th 2008

Source: Trinidad Express

A civil appeal involving the Government of Guyana and a landowner is scheduled to start today at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The appeal is listed even while the Opposition party, the United National Congress-Alliance (UNC-A), has criticised the wanton waste of money and lack of work for the judges of the CCJ.

The appeal, which is due to start at 10 a.m., is seeking to resolve the issue of whether the Guyanese government can acquire by adverse possession, land compulsory acquired, which has subsequently been declared by the court to be invalid.

One of the main opponents of the CCJ, Sir Fenton Ramsahoye,QC, and Anand Ramlogan are listed to appear for the appellant Toolsie Persaud Limited.

Guyana's Attorney General Doodnauth Singh QC, appears for the Attorney General of Guyana while other Guyanese lawyers appear for the landowner.

Have Faith in the CCJ

B'dos PM: Have faith in CCJ
Monday, April 21st 2008

Source: Newsday

Caribbean countries need to have more confidence in the Caribbean Court of Justice so that they may finally accede to its appellate jurisdiction, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson said recently.

The CCJ is the regional judicial tribunal but is designed to be more than a court of last resort for Caricom member states.

In its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ considers and determines appeals in both civil and criminal matters coming out of Caricom states that are members.

Since its inauguration in 2005, only Guyana and Barbados have acceded to its appellate jurisdiction. Trinidad and Tobago, where the CCJ is headquartered, has not.

Thompson pointed out that even though the president of the CCJ was a Trinidadian (former Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide) and it was situated here, Trinidad had not been able to accede to its appellate jurisdiction.

It was therefore difficult to justify to some why the CCJ should be in existence when "only two countries have been able to accede to its jurisdiction", Thompson said.

He was speaking at the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers' Association's annual general meeting at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel in Port of Spain last Wednesday.

Trinidad and Tobago and 11 other Caricom states agreed in 2001 to accede to the CCJ's original jurisdiction as a regional tribunal.

The CCJ's is headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago and the fact that a Trinidadian, Michael de la Bastide, is its president should be a source of national pride, Thompson said, adding that a greater effort needs to be made to have other countries agree to its jurisdiction.

Speaking with reporters following the TTMA meeting, he maintained there should not be an issue of lack of confidence in the CCJ since it had expert jurists.

He said something had to be done, possibly by an intermediary, to "push" these countries to accede to the CCJ's jurisdiction.

On Friday, local parliamentarians debated the relevance of the CCJ, given its enormous cost, and lack of use.

T&T Debates the CCJ Bill

Ramesh, Manning clash over CCJ
Ria Taitt Political Editor

Trinidad Express
Saturday, April 19th 2008

Saying that the judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice were "most of the time drinking coffee and reading papers", Opposition Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday called on the Government to either close down the CCJ or find a way to build public confidence in this institution.

Maharaj and Prime Minister Patrick Manning clashed during the debate on the CCJ Bill in the House of Representatives yesterday as Maharaj claimed that many Caricom prime ministers were having second thoughts as to whether they should continue to pay the expenses of maintaining the court.

Maharaj said also the judges of that court were unhappy because they had no cases and therefore no work to do.

He asked the Government to consider whether the jurisdiction of the CCJ could be expanded as a Court of Appeal in a range of matters, but allowing for a further appeal to the Privy Council. He said Caribbean leaders knew that the populations did not support the CCJ and they were rethinking the wisdom of having such a court.

Manning interrupted saying that he knew of no such position. He said Caricom leaders discussed the issue of making the CCJ independent of the respective treasuries of the region but at no time had there been any doubts as to whether they should proceed with the court. Maharaj countered that Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson noted that unless Trinidad and Tobago was part of the (original and appellate jurisdiction of the) court, it would be a waste of time.

He called on the Government to give the population information on the kind of money spent so far on the CCJ. He also called on the Government to commit itself to a reassessment of the situation to see how best the court could be utiltised given the resources being dedicated to it.

Manning said Caricom governments were careful to put financial arrangements to make the CCJ financially independent and as of now there was no additional call on the Treasury of Caricom countries to maintain the CCJ. But Maharaj challenged this, saying that Attorney General Bridgid Annisette-George had stated differently. Manning stated that there were only additional costs to Trinidad and Tobago and that arose solely out of the fact that Trinidad and Tobago was the headquarters of the court.

Maharaj added that Sir James Mitchell, one of greatest supporters of the CCJ, was now saying that it should be looked at again. Manning rose again to challenge the statement saying to Speaker Barry Sinanan, "He can't get away with that". However, Sinanan suspended for tea.

Debate on the Bill resumes on Wednesday.

T&T Opposition Opposes the CCJ

Abolish Caribbean Court of Justice
Source: Newsday ( T&T)

By RICHARDSON DHALAI

Saturday, April 19 2008

THE Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) should be abolished and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council retained to ensure fairness and equity in the Judicial system.

That’s the view of Opposition Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who stated that the Trinidad and Tobago population possessed a “lack of confidence” over perceived political interference in the local judiciary.

He was responding to comments by Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson who advised this country to “succumb” to the CCJ’s jurisdiction saying it would be difficult to justify the regional court’s existence when “only two or three countries in the entire region have been able to accede to its jurisdiction.” Thompson called for a “national consensus” to take place in Trinidad and Tobago, where the Court’s headquarters are located, so that the CCJ could replace the Privy Council.

However, Maharaj pointed out that the agreement signed by the UNC when it was government had been signed “subject to consultation with the people.” “The people must decide and given what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago at this time. This country is not at a time where we can depend on the CCJ having regard to what transpired in the CJ case. There is a lack of confidence in the politicians in Trinidad and Tobago . . . the Privy Council should be kept on,” Maharaj said.

He said millions of dollars were being spent on the CCJ with only very few cases being heard by the regional court saying the population of the other Caricom countries which had also not signed on to the Court would also not vote in favour of the Court due to perceived political interference in their court system.

“The Court should be abolished,” he said.

Trinidad Company files suit against Guyana for Treaty Violation

TCL files suit against Guyana - Claims failure to protect cement market

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

published: Friday April 18, 2008

Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo has hit out at the Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), saying the regional company was taking advantage of the Guyanese market.

Jagdeo's comments came on the heels of the court action initiated by TCL Guyana Inc against his government in the Caribbean Court of Justice.

TCL is seeking millions of dollars in damages, saying Guyana had failed to impose the common external tariff (CET) on cement imported from outside the region.

Allowed importation

But Jagdeo said his government had waived the CET to allow the importation of cement from outside the region in order to meet the shortfall in TCL's supply.

The shortages had led to skyrocketing cement prices, Jagdeo said, forcing Guyanese to pay more for the commodity.

Minister of Commerce Manniram Prashad added that TCL could not and continues to be unable to meet the local demand for cement.

But beyond that, he had no comment on the suit, saying up to Tuesday the government had no official word on the court action.

Violated treaty

The CCJ application filed by attorneys for TCL claims that Guyana violated the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas when it waived the CET on the extra-regional imports, giving an unfair advantage to extra-regional suppliers and local importers to the detriment of the company.

It claimed that the move resulted in losses around US$2 million and has asked for compensation and/or injunctive relief.

The cement company had set up a US$10 million bagging plant in Guyana during the construction boom there as the country prepared for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean.

Trinidad Cement Brings Case under CCJ Original Jurisdiction

CCJ hears CET dispute in its third year

Source: Radio Jamaica

Date April 16, 2008

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is to hear its first dispute over the region's Common External Tariff (CET).

The CET is a region wide duty on some goods imported from outside the Caribbean Single Market. Trinidad Cement Limited (TLC) is seeking millions of dollars in damages from the Guyana government following Georgetown's failure to impose the CET on cement imported from outside the region. TCL claims that it lost than US$2 million as a result.

The company had set up a bagging plant in Guyana during the construction boom for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean. However, there were complaints against TCL that it failed to meet local demand for cement at the time.

Wednesday marks the third anniversary of the CCJ.

Third Anniversary of the CCJ

The CCJ three years on
RICKEY SINGH, Observer Caribbean correspondent

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

TODAY marks the third anniversary of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that was ceremonially inaugurated in Trinidad and Tobago with an inter-faith service on April 16, 2005 to usher in a historic moment for the development of a Caribbean jurisprudence.

It was established to function both as a final appellate institution and with an original jurisdiction for resolution of trade disputes arising from interpretation of the revised Caricom Treaty.

Three years after its inauguration with headquarters in Port of Spain, the CCJ remains the final appeal court of just its first two member states - Guyana and Barbados. It has delivered judgments in a dozen cases between October 2005 and March 2008.

All other partner states of the English-speaking Caribbean, including its home base, Trinidad and Tobago, continue to access the Privy Council in London, consistent with an age-old colonial tradition and with no movement on the political horizon for a change in its membership status quo in the immediate future.

The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has, to its list of credits, the successful mobilisation of US$100 million on the international money market for the financing of the CCJ with a carefully crafted repayment scheme by governments of the participating member states.
While all member countries pay their contributions for the operational budget of the CCJ - estimated at approximately US$4.05 million in 2006 - only Barbados and Guyana can rightly access it as their court of last resort, plus its jurisdiction on trade disputes.

The explanation often offered by Caricom governments yet to sever links with the Privy Council is that they may first have to go the route of a national referendum. But constitutional experts have pointed out that while in Jamaica both dominant political parties have, as of last year, now committed themselves to the referendum course to determine replacement of the Privy Council with the CCJ, at least four Eastern Caribbean countries do not necessarily have to do so.

These four, all in the OECS sub-region - St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, and Dominica - have the option to negotiate support for a two-thirds parliamentary majority to access the CCJ as their final appellate court, rather than resorting to a two-track approach to obtain both the required parliamentary majority and going for a national referendum.

None of this quartet of countries has attempted, under different administrations, to educate the public in favour of replacing the Privy Council with the CCJ. Instead, there continues to be the curious scenario of opposition parties often on the offensive to retain the Privy Council, particularly when they disagree with judgements of their own courts.

Focus on Jamaica
On the other hand, governing parties justify the existence of the CCJ, but without pursuing any significant initiative to move the process towards terminating access to the Privy Council and allowing unchallenged claims of their domestic political opponents.

Latest criticisms levelled at the CCJ in Trinidad and Tobago - where passionate debates often take place about the independence and integrity of the local judiciary - came last week from United National Congress parliamentarian, Senator Wade Mark.

Not only did he engage in a verbal assault against the Patrick Manning administration for, as he claimed, being part of the regional governments "wasting" some TT$400 million (US$66.4 million) annually on the CCJ, but thought it necessary to introduce the race factor with his questioning of any West Indian of Indian descent being among the appointed judges.

In plural Caricom societies like Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, the race factor in high-profile appointments, including the judiciary, has long been a sensitive issue.It is troubling that Senator Mark should raise, at this stage, the race factor when seven distinguished legal luminaries comprise the judges of the court (two more are yet to be appointed), when making his criticisms against poor fiscal management by the Manning administration.

Incidentally, the senator is way off mark in speaking of wastage of $400 million when the total recurrent and capital budget for the CCJ in 2006, as audited, was US$7.2 million (including US$2.7 million in capital expenditure).

At present, ironically, and strange as it may seem to some, hope is being encouraged on Jamaica moving towards the promised referendum on the CCJ as its court of last resort.

The feeling is that once it takes place, the outcome will be positive in favour of terminating access to the Privy Council. Such a development could well inspire other Caricom states to cease being negative about the CCJ and broaden access.

Race and the CCJ

Mark: No Indian judges in CCJ

Source: Trinidad Express
Anna Ramdass : aramdass@trinidadexpress.com
Thursday, April 10th 2008

Opposition Senator Wade Mark has questioned the balance in the ethnic composition of judges appointed to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

He made the comment as he told the Senate there are no Indian judges in the CCJ. "There are 1.4 million Indo-Trinidadians in Suriname, in Guyana and in Trinidad and Tobago... they have appointed between six and nine judges to the CCJ, not one single Indian, not one Indian in that balance,'' Mark said in his contribution to the Caribbean Court of Justice (Headquarters) Bill 2008 at Tuesday's Senate sitting at the Red House, Port of Spain.

"And don't tell me that we don't have judges who are prominent and well established in the judicial landscape... even when you look at the composition of the CCJ, it leaves a lot to be desired."

He said he knows people of Indian origin who have applied for the position, and they have received letters indicating that "their applications are under active consideration".

"Tell me where is the justice,'' Mark said, as he argued that Parliament was being used as a tool by the Trinidad and Tobago Government and other regional governments.

He added that United National Congress Alliance (UNC-A) will never support the CCJ, and pointed out that under the legislation, the head of the CCJ, Michael De La Bastide, can be removed from that position with a three-quarter vote of Caricom Heads of Government.

"We have no faith whatsoever in the CCJ. It is a play thing of Caricom Heads of Government and it will never be able to deliver justice," Mark said.

He argued that other Caricom heads also do not have faith in the CCJ and the fact that only two countries-Barbados and Guyana -have lent their support is evidence of this.

Mark added that the people of Trinidad and Tobago were never consulted with respect to the establishment of the CCJ.

"The CCJ is a waste of time, a waste of taxpayers' money," he said.

COMMENTS

Posted: 2008-04-09 10:02:00 PM
Why is Wade given so much press time when he has proven time and again by his senseless arguments how shallow his thinking is? I guess if making a fool of himself keeps him paid, then he will be a fool for life. Tell us another folklore Wade.

Good going Mark
Posted: 2008-04-09 10:03:00 PM
good going Mark and God bless you, thank God this is observation is made by someone of another race. Tell God will not show you His favor for looking at things as you see it, Trini In LA

Race
Posted: 2008-04-10 02:24:00 AM
The problem in Trinidad is all about race, and unless it is addressed there will never be harmony. When I came to Trinidad in 2006 the problem was the Trinity cross, where is the complain about the red cross, we live in grey areas. The citizens of the WORLD need to start confronting the issue. Senator Obama said it well in his speech to the American people. I am tired of hearing about black and white, Negroes and Indians and religion, we're are very pitiful people, we're forever looking to blame somebody else. I am from Negro, India and Spanish background, who should I follow. I remember as a child, I had friends from every race and I never thought about it, so people please look in your heart and face your own racist mentality, then you will see why Trinidad is going to hell.

Equal Opportunity - Out to Lunch
Posted: 2008-04-10 02:52:00 AM
I commend you, Mr. Mark, a person of apparent non-indian heritage for bringing this error in judgement to light. The Caribbean is populated with persons of every ethnic background, education and qualifications. Yet, on the CCJ, there are no persons of 'South Asian/East Indian' heritage. Mr. Rowley only recently reported that T.T. has a smart and educated population. What happened to the persons of 'South Asian' identity who are very qualified to sit on such a Court? Is it as written by George Orwell that all men are equal but some are more equal? T.T. should never be involved in such a body. We are worth more than we seems to be given credit for. Please ensure that any decisions made by this government does not discriminate against any person regardless of religion, sex, age, political affiliation, or otherwise. We do not need to be a part of such backward institutions. Keep working on it, Mr. Mark. We expect and deserve nothing but the best for our citizens.

Senator Mark is Correct
Posted: 2008-04-10 05:04:00 AM
Senator Mark is correct, we should have ethnic balance in the CCJ. Please don't tell us that there are no very qualified persons of Indian origin and even persons also of Chinese origin and other races . In all successful developing countries persons of other races who are competent are included. Such a move promotes harmony and a sense that all persons no matter of race or background can be fairly represented.
Mark
Posted: 2008-04-10 07:29:00 AM
When will this man just go away? Can't the UNC A think of a more inteligent way of voiceing thier opinion that resorting to racial talk. How about finding a person more qualified than the ones nominated and questioning why this person was not called to duty? Justice, Wade Mark, should be in the hands of those most qualified to dispense it, and NOT as you would have it, something acted on by a racially biased judge, acting on behalf of his fellow indians. Just shows how much you know about dispensation of justice. Steven Il.
cry me a river
Posted: 2008-04-10 08:02:00 AM
There is no such thing as affirmitive action in the Caribbean and there should never be. When we look at the highly ranked judges across the caribbean how many Indians (not IndoTrinidadians as they cannot be if they live in Guyana and Suriname) do we see. Just as they can claim that their students are the most qualified to be accepted into Medicine at UWI. oh please. If they have not done enough to make themselves standout in their careers that what do you want them to do, appoint less qualified persons for the sake of ethinical balance. Not even in the US do they do that. If a firm hires a black person they seek the best of the best of the best of the best. So this nonsense is just another excuse to not support something that can only make the caribben region stronger. This is not a handout so dont make it into that type of appointment.
NO INDIAN ON CCJ
Posted: 2008-04-10 08:08:00 AM
It is time that you all stop this nonsense. Are we not Trinidadians and Tobagonians? After the last world cup Sat Maharaj brought in a gentleman(of indian decentwho played in the world cup) from a foreign country to speak to the indian children about football, why not Yorke, Hislop,or Latapy who aare from TNT? Not a word from the blacks in TNT. If this was the other way around it would have been upheaval. This has to stop. A NATION DIVIDED CANNOT STAND. TRU TRINI
Petty
Posted: 2008-04-10 08:31:00 AM
I just want to ask those who wish to bring our petty ethnic politics into the Caribbean region; are there any Syrian, Chinese, Dougla, Caucacian, Amerindians etc? You all are so petty, good God!

PNP Keeping a Close Eye on the CCJ Issue

We are looking closely at this - Opposition

published: Friday, March 28, 2008

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

PEOPLE'S NATIONAL Party (PNP) President Portia Simpson Miller, who had promised to be the Government's "worst nightmare" said that the Opposition would be watching closely to see whether articulated government policies come to fruition.

Simpson Miller, who is leader of the Opposition, said that the PNP would want the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to be placed on to the legislative agenda this year. She spoke to The Gleaner after Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall presented the Throne Speech at Gordon House, yesterday.

CCJ issue

When the PNP was in Govern-ment, it attempted to replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the CCJ as Jamaica's court of last resort. However, the Jamaica Labour Party opposed the move, saying that a referendum was necessary to make the decision.

"We are looking closely at this," Simpson Miller said.

She added, "Several of the constitutional matters mentioned are things we had consensus on and others we were still having discussion on".

"They are continuing some of what we were doing," Simpson Miller told The Gleaner.

Among the things promised for this parliamentary year are constitutional reform, passing of the Charter of Rights and justice reform. "All of those were started by the People's National Party when we were in Government," Simpson Miller noted.

Nothing new

Robert Pickersgill, the PNP chairman, is also of the view that the directions as articulated by Sir Kenneth are not novel. He told The Gleaner that it was not the custom of the PNP to comment on the Throne Speech, while adding, "I have not heard anything new.

"It is a continuation of our policies," Pickersgill added. He told The Gleaner that Prime Minister Bruce Golding's first 100 days in office "have long gone and I have not seen any kind of new initiative". Like Simpson Miller, he said that he would be waiting for the Budget Debates for the Govern-ment to chart a clear position.

Come April 1, user fees in public health facilities will be abolished, bringing into being a pre-election promise of free health care made by the Government. Simpson Miller said she was waiting to see how this would work.

"There were some pronouncements made, like, for example, on the user fees in health, and I am waiting to get more information on that to see whether it is something that we would be taking up or commenting on."

Is the CCJ Dead?

Is the CCJ dead?
Excerpt from Vernon Daley's Article : Caught on camera
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Is the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) experiment dead in the water? Last week St Vincent and the Grenadines Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace withdrew his party's support for appellate jurisdiction of the CCJ. The Opposition in Trinidad is also opposed to the court while the Jamaica Labour Party Government in Jamaica has never warmed to it. Only Barbados and Guyana have made the plunge in having the court replace the UK-based Privy Council.

As far as I know, we in Jamaica have to be repaying a multimillion dollar loan to the Caribbean Development Bank which was used to set up the court. Why are we paying for something we are not using? We need to have the CCJ issue resolved and I'm hoping we'll hear a major statement from Prime Minister Bruce Golding about the matter in the upcoming Budget debate.

SVG Opposition withdraws support for CCJ

SVG Opposition withdraws support for CCJ

Source: Radio Jamaica - Kingston, Jamaica

Monday, 17 March 2008

The leader of the opposition in St. Vincent and the Grenadine, Arnhim Eustace has announced the withdrawal of his party's support for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Most Caribbean countries have pledged to replace the London based Privy Council with the CCJ as their highest court.

Mr. Eustace said he wanted to see more reform to remove what he says is political interference in the administration of justice in the region. "I think I want to see some further movement in relation to the issue of political involvement and what role the political directive can play," said Mr. Eustace.

Charter of Rights held Ransom - Jamaica

Charter of Rights to be held at ransom - PNP will not tender support until CCJ passed

Source: Jamaica Gleaner.

published: Saturday March 15, 2008

Opposition spokesman on Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Senator AJ Nicholson, has served notice on the Bruce Golding-led administration that his party will not support the passage of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is established as the nation's final appellate body.

"If there is to be judicial activism, let that judicial activism be done by persons in the Caribbean," Nicholson said in defending his party's position.

He was speaking Thursday night during the Management Institute for National Developments (MIND) public lecture, at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston.

The CCJ, a lomg-standing controversial issue in Jamaica, was put on ice after a 2005 ruling by the Privy Council that it was unconstitutional for the Jamaican Parliament to pass laws to allow the island to participate in the CCJ in its appellate jurisdiction without having it entrenched in the Constitution.

Privy Council issue

The Privy Council had agreed that Parliament, by simple majority, could abolish appeals to the United Kingdom appeals court, which was not entrenched in the Constitution. However, the law lords also argued that the Privy Council could not be replaced by a court which was not entrenched in the Jamaican Constitution and whose judges, like those of the domestic court, did not have constitutional protection.

Nicholson said the rights charter should be interpreted by local law lords and not left to overseas individuals.

"We are about to have in our constitution a new charter of rights and freedoms, and in that charter, there are going to be some new and modern provisions, which are not recited in the present Constitution," he said. "Jamaica will have to consider deeply whether it wishes the provisions of that charter to be interpreted and adjudicated upon by a court in the United Kingdom, or a court here in the Caribbean, a court of our own."

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which has been discussed on and off in Parliament for about 25 years, is a piece of legislation which seeks to provide members of the public with a list of fundamental rights and privileges that will be enshrined in or deeply protected by the Constitution.

While in government, Nicholson's People's National Party had championed both the CCJ and the rights charter.

On Thursday night, he said his party would now welcome a referendum on the CCJ.

"I also intend to table in the Senate, very soon, a resolution suggesting to the Government that we go ahead and deal with [this] outstanding matter," he said.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General Dorothy Lightbourne told The Gleaner yesterday afternoon that she did not have an immediate response to Nicholson's comments.