(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Representatives of the Regional legal fraternity, policy holders, bankers, business executives and entrepreneurs are among those who will have an opportunity to explore developments in law as they relate to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) at the inaugural symposium on Current Developments in Caribbean Community Law.
Legal and Regulatory Framework
The process of inaugurating the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) before the end of 2003 has taken two significant strides forward with the finalisation of the membership of both the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission and the Board of Trustees of the CCJ Trust Fund.
The Agreement Establishing the Court sets out in Article V (1), the composition of the Commission, as nominees from the regional entities or, in two cases, representatives of permanent organs of Member States.
“There is hereby established a Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission which shall consist of the
At the Twenty-Fourth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, Heads considered the request made to each Member State of the Community by the Government of the United States of America to enter into bilateral immunity or ‘non-surrender” agreements that exempt US nationals and other persons who have worked for the US Government from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Caribbean Court of Justice in its continued Public Education Programme, on the 22-23 May, 2003 launched its public education programme in Haiti.
Haiti is the newest Member State embraced as a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The launch and first round of the education programme in Haiti, targeted the Judiciary and Magistracy.
The Haitian Judiciary was given the opportunity to discuss the CCJ in the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The people of St. Kitts and Nevis recently had another opportunity to learn more about the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) by way of a series of regional educational activities, led by a team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.
The team, led by Sheldon McDonald, CCJ Project Co-ordinator for the establishment of the CCJ, began its educational activities, organised by the St. Kitts and Nevis National Co-ordinating Committee for the CCJ with a live radio and television discussion on the broadcast network ZIZ Radio and Television.
The question has been asked sometimes why do we need a Caribbean Court of Justice. The short and simple response is that without it the CARICOM Single Market and Economy will certainly not function effectively. For it is inevitable that in the cut and thrust of the commercial and economic life involving trade in goods, in services, trans-community investment and movement of skilled labour as well as the dynamics of social life within that market, there will be disputes.
Public support across the region for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had risen from 68% in 2000 to 80% in 2002 reported Mr. Sheldon Mc Donald, CCJ Project Coordinator in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat. He said that all member states of CARICOM are united in their support for the establishment of the regional Court.
Consultations on the establishment of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and arrangements for the inauguration of the Court, which is scheduled for the latter half of 2003, is expected to commence soon. This was a mandate coming out of the Fourteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which concluded in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend.
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.
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;