Guyana fields diverse delegation for CCJ symposium
By Shawnel Cudjoe
Guyana Chronicle
October 30, 2003
Guyana will be represented by a 10-member delegation at a regional symposium on the Caribbean Court of Justice. The symposium on the Caribbean Court of Justice: Original Jurisdiction and Regional Economic Development, in Paramaribo, Suriname, will discuss the current state of preparation for the establishment of the Regional Supreme Court.
Once established, the court will replace in most states, the jurisdiction of the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Guyana had divorced itself from the Jurisdiction of that court in 1970 when it became an independent state.
In 1970, also, the Jamaican delegation, at the Sixth Heads of Government Conference, in Kingston, Jamaica, first mooted the notion of a Caribbean Court of Appeal.
The Region is now nearer to the establishment of such a court. Guyana has lent its support to the establishment of the CCJ. It is proposed that the Court be based in Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana's delegation will be led by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Ms. Metra Devi Ali, and Senior Council Peter Britton.
The rest of the delegation comprises Honorary Secretary of the Private Sector Commission, Mr. Claude Merriman; Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Mr. Knrishna Lekhraj; Deputy Registrar Mr. Rashid Mohammed; Communications Officer, Government Information Agency; Mr. Michael Gordon; Mr. Tim Green, Commerce Officer, Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce; Ms. Joy Persaud, Legal Officer, Guyana Revenue Authority; Ms. Vijaya Jagnandan, State Counsel, Attorney General's Chambers and Ms. Michelle Nicholas Brisport, Foreign Trade Officer, Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation.
The symposium will be held today and tomorrow.