Guyana has handed over its instrument of ratification of the agreement, which establishes the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
Attorney General, Doodnauth Singh SC, told Stabroek News last night that State Counsel, Naresh Harnanan handed over the instrument of ratification last week to CARICOM Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington at a seminar on the CCJ in Trinidad and Tobago. President Bharrat Jagdeo signed the ratification instrument on July 19.
Guyana is the third CARICOM state to ratify the agreement and its ratification allows the CCJ to be operationalised.
Singh explained that while the Guyana the constitution allows for the CCJ to replace Court of Appeal as the country's final court, legislation still had to be enacted to bring the relevant provision into effect.
He said that the legislation would have to be enacted in accordance with a timetable being developed by the CARICOM Secretariat so that the CCJ could begin its operation by July next year.
The other countries, which like Guyana have ratified the agreement, are St Lucia and Barbados. Trinidad's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, told reporters here at the CARICOM Summit held here earlier in the month that once his country's parliament met, the necessary ratification would be forthcoming.
Trinidad and Tobago is the seat of the CCJ where it will hear cases arising from its original jurisdiction as it relates to the CARICOM Treaty. The government there has already made available a building to house the CCJ until a permanent structure is constructed.
In its appellate jurisdiction it is expected that CCJ will move from territory to territory where it will sit to hear appeals from decisions of their high courts on civil and criminal matters.
At the CARICOM Summit held here last month, the CARICOM Heads agreed to establish a US$100 million trust fund, the income from which would finance the court's activities. The Caribbean Development Bank will raise the US$100 million on the capital and on-lend it to the CARICOM states that are members of the court. Guyana's contribution to the fund is likely to be between US$7-8 million.