In 1970, at the Sixth Caribbean Heads of Government Conference held in Jamaica, that country’s delegation proposed the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Appeal. Arguments for and against such a Court have been discussed and debated by both Bench and Bar of the Region for the past thirty years. In February 2001 the last bold step was taken to ensure the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice when the agreement establishing the Court was signed by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.
Information and Communication Technology
1. The Magistracy_
In examining the proposals relating to the role of the Magistracy in the functioning of the CCJ, the following were noted_
   (a) The Magistrates will be required to make referrals to the CCJ in its Original Jurisdiction as it relates to the interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas;
   (b) It was submitted that a working knowledge of the Revised Treaty should be part of continuing legal education for Magistrates;
Madame Chancellor
Hon. Chief Justice
[Hon. Justices]
Hon. Attorney-General and Minster of Legal Affairs
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Specially Invited Guests
Distinguished participants
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
May I first acknowledge with appreciation the opportunity to say a few words on this important occasion. My appreciation goes particularly to Dr. Edwin Carrington, the indefatigable Secretary General of CARICOM who has over the years, tirelessly exerted himself in pursuit of regional integration, cooperation and advancement.
This occasion is but yet another manifestation of this; for under his watch the project for which we meet here today will hopefully now come to fruition.
The work towards the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will move into a heightened state in 2003 with a series of activities. The first of these is a joint meeting of national co-ordinators for the establishment of the CCJ in Guyana on 12 January 2003.
Ministers with responsibility for Information and Communication Technology (ICT)in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are due to meet in Antigua and Barbuda next Wednesday, 15 May 2002, to look at the regional information and communication technology environment as well as to mobilise coordinated action towards the framing of regional programming and a CARICOM Policy on ICT.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is spear-heading an all-out effort to get the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) back on stream, mobilising support from various sectors of civil society to shore-up the efforts of the executive body of the regional media house.
A special emergency meeting of CARICOM Ministers responsible for Information will be convened in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday, 28 January 2002, to hammer out a course of action to ensure the resumption and sustainability of the functioning of the CMC.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has a relatively developed system for national legislation for weighing machines. Automatic weighing devices are widely used to determine the quantity of loads in terms of mass. While some applications are specified by national legislation, they are subject to legal metrological control. In CARICOM there is an ever increasing need to have metrological quality confirmed by calibration testing systems against a standard of higher accuracy ensuring consistency in system integrity, for example, where required by ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 standards