CCJ to play pivotal balancing role in region
From Michael Gordon in Paramaribo
Guyana Chronicle
November 2, 2003
THE Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is a unique model of a multinational court enjoying both an original jurisdiction as an international tribunal and an appellate jurisdiction in respect of municipal law issues arising in the jurisdictions of member states and heard on appeal in national appellate courts.
This is according to Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General, Ms, Glenda Morean. She was at the time addressing the opening of a symposium on the CCJ Friday morning in Parimaribo, Suriname.
In her presentation on the `Overarching importance of the CCJ', Ms. Morean said that like the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which it will replace, the CCJ will play a pivotal role in balancing the powers of the administration to ensure a high quality of governance, where the fundamental rights of the individual are not put in jeopardy on account of exigencies of the state, and the public interest is not compromised.
At the same time, the Attorney General said, the court will be critical in safeguarding the rule of law and enhancing the quality of governance in each member state. She dispelled the perception that the CCJ will be a "hanging court", as has been advocated by some members of the private Bar in the region. She posited that courts do not make laws or hang people, noting that the role of the court is simply to interpret and apply the law. Ms. Morean said the execution of the law is at the discretion of the executive.
She further noted that the executive has the power to hang, pardon or commute death sentences to life-imprisonment.
Once established, the CCJ will not possess a supervisory role over the record of the Superior Courts of regional states. However, Article (3) (1) of the Treaty of Chaguaramas gives the CCJ powers to establish rules of court for regulating the practice and procedures of the court in the final exercise of the appellate jurisdiction conferred on the court.
In recognition of the importance of the CCJ with respect to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), Suriname's Minister of Justice and Police, Siegfried Gilds said the CSME and the CCJ "go together like a horse and a carriage".
The Attorney General of the Dutch Republic said that the establishment of the CSME is an invariable option by CARICOM and its people.
At Friday's deliberations on the establishment of the Regional Judicial Tribunal, a number of issues relating to the efficient functioning of the court were discussed. Among them were maintenance of sovereignty of member states; the assurance of no executive interference in the function of the court; greater public awareness on all aspects of the CCJ. The appellate jurisdiction of the court and the development of the CSME were presented by Ronald Burch-Smith, Legal Consultant to the CARICOM Secretariat, and Mr. Ivor Carryl, Programme Manager of the CSME respectively.
CARICOM Director, Caribbean Legal Drafting Facility, Duke Pollard addressed participants on the original jurisdiction of the CCJ, while Mr. Keith Sobian, Principal of the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica and Ms. Hans Lim-A-Po, spoke on the challenges in legal education and the interference between civil law and common law with emphasis on the CCJ respectively.
Placing the establishment into perspective, Professor Sobian said independence and control hinge on the three arms of the state - the executive, legislative and judicial. He opined that the region is only two-thirds complete in this aspect. He noted that by moving away from the judicial committee of the Privy Council and establishing its own final court, the region would finally be completely independent of colonialism, and truly independent.
Guyana is represented at the symposium by a ten-member delegation led by Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Ms. Mitra Devi Ali and University of Guyana senior lecturer, Mr. Peter Britton, SC.
The other members are Michelle Brisport of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Vijaya Jagnandan, of the Legal Affairs Ministry, Joy Persaud of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Michael Gordon of Government Information Agency, Mr. Claude Merriman of the Private Sector Commission, Mr. Tim Green of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Mr. Rashid Mohammed of the Supreme Court Registry and Krishna Lekraj, Deputy Chief Immigration Officer.