He noted at the opening of a two-day conference of Chief Magistrates of member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that the court was conceived as an indispensable institution for regional integration and development.

The Georgetown conference has been organised to inform and sensitise the magistracy in CARICOM member states about the CCJ and various issues relating to its operations.

Outlining the unique characteristics of the court at the Hotel Tower meeting, Conteh said the CCJ would be unlike any other comparable regional court, since it would be both a Municipal Court and an International Court, at one and the same time.

He, however, warned that this characteristic was not without challenges for the court when it gets under way, adding that these challenges would either enhance or diminish its prospects, either as the ultimate Court of Appeal (from the individual jurisdictions of member states) or as an effective regional court.

This is in the context of the integration efforts of CARICOM, and the goals and aspirations of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

"The conferral of the appellate jurisdiction on the Caribbean Court of Justice, thereby making it the final Court of Appeal for member states, within the domestic hierarchy of their legal systems, should be done in conformity with the provisions of their respective constitutions", he said.

Unless this is done, he said, "there might be challenges which will not only delay the process, but might well find their way to the Privy Council (of London) itself for determination."

The aspect of the exercise of establishing the court is more of a challenge to the executive and legislatures of member states, than for the judiciary, he said.

Conteh said that without question, an abiding challenge that will flow from the establishment of the court, will be that of financing it at an appropriate level to ensure that it functions with efficiency, dispatch, and the necessary judicial independence and integrity.

Noting that courts become dysfunctional through lack of resources, he said this is not new or unique to the administration of justice, whether in the region or beyond.

"Too often the administration of justice, particularly in ensuring adequate financial provisions for the judiciary, does not, it seems rate very high in the calculations of national treasuries," he stated.

He said it cannot be denied that in the round, the proper administration of justice is, in a material sense, part of the national security operations of a state.

Moreover, Conteh said, "when the courts become dysfunctional through lack of resources, the tendency is for people to have recourse to more destabilising methods of settling disputes which, before too long, may impact on the social, economic and political welfare of the state."

He also pointed to the blight of judicial systems caused by rich and overpowerful drug barons in some countries, now a sobering reminder in this respect.

Against this backdrop, the Belize Chief Justice sounded an early warning that, in the case of the CCJ, "the spectre or prospect of under-funding or lack of adequate financial or other resources, would deal a body blow to the regional cooperation and integration, almost to the point of unravelling the whole prospect."

He saw budgetary and financial independence as a necessary pillar for judicial independence and integrity, adding that the five-year programmatic budgetary provisions for the court and the establishment of a Trust Fund to defray the recurrent expenditure of the court will go a great way to sustain its financial independence and viability.

He commended the paying of assessed contributions by member states towards the costs of the court, and charged by law, on the Consolidated Fund, stating that it was vital for the success of the enterprise of the court, that its financing be put on a sound and sustainable basis.

CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Edwin Carrington, recalled that in Georgetown last year, Heads of Government took a major step when they mandated the Caribbean Development Bank to raise on the international market, US$100M to establish a Trust Fund, the yield of which will be used to finance the operations of the court on a sustainable basis.

Carrington said the CDB is to on-lend to participating states, the money raised, so that they can meet their obligations to the court in a one-time payment and then repay the loan on the basis of an agreed formula.

Chancellor of the Guyana Judiciary, Ms. Justice Desiree Bernard, recalled that the establishment of the Caribbean Court had been in the making for more than a quarter of a century, since she was Chairman of the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Association in the early 1970's.

Ms. Bernard noted that even after such a long period of talks and gestation, everything will be in place, as assured by Project Co-ordinator, Mr. Sheldon McDonald, adding that it will indeed be an historic moment.

Justice Bernard is looking forward to seeing the Caribbean Court of Justice as Guyana's final Court.