The intended November 15 inauguration of the Caribbean Court of Justice has been put back to a date sometime in the first quarter of next year.

The deferral of the inauguration is to allow the members states that are parties to the agreement setting up the Court to enact the various instruments into their domestic laws by December 31.

It is also necessary to allow the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission to recruit and appoint the President and Judges of the Court.

In the case of Guyana, Attorney-General Doodnauth Singh SC told Stabroek News that all that was needed was for enabling legislation to be enacted, as Article 123(4) already provided for Parliament to “make such provision as it deems fit authorising any court established, or to be established, as the final court of appeal for the Caribbean to be the final court of appeal for Guyana.”

He said that the legislation had already been drafted and would be tabled in the National Assembly shortly.

The Attorney-General also said that the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission had already held three meetings and another was scheduled for mid-November.

He said the deferral would allow for the appointment of the President and judges to the court. He said that job descriptions and specifications had already been drafted and advertisements were to be placed in regional and international media shortly. The agreement provides that the process for approving the Rules of the Court requires the President of the CCJ to consult with at least five other judges.

One other hurdle requires the parties who signed the Agreement establishing the Court to sign an amendment agreement, which would facilitate the participation of Montserrat, the only British colony in the community.

Once this agreement is signed the Caribbean Development Bank will then advise the community as to the date it will move to the market to raise the US$100M that is to be used the establish the trust fund to finance the work of the CCJ.