Independence of the judiciary in the Caribbean

by Oscar Ramjeet:


There is separation of powers in the English-speaking Caribbean and throughout the Commonwealth, but sometimes the question arises whether or not there is independence of the judiciary. Although there might be complaints in some quarters, it seems to me that the judiciary is independent in the Caribbean Community.

In fact, I met several heads of the judiciary and senior jurists in the region in Barbados recently and heard no significant complaint.

The decision last month by Guyanese-born Justice Gertel Thom in St Vincent and the Grenadines to make an order for the continuation of an injunction to block the Boundaries Commission from increasing the number of constituencies from 15 to 17 until the determination of the substantive action brought by the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has prompted me to look at the operations of judges in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).

Justice Thom's decision was a rather bold one, since it is not favourable to the United Labour Party administration in the multi island state, and I must say that it is commendable for Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to make a public statement accepting the court's decision (whether or not he meant it is another matter). However, the fact that he issued a favourable comment augers well for the relationship between the executive and the judiciary in that country.

This is contrary to Antigua and Barbuda, where a minister of government made adverse comments against the trial judge who ruled against Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and two other ministers of government in a election petition case, which now has the administration in limbo. The Antiguan minister said that if the judge had given such decision in Jamaica she could not have walked out of court -- a very unfortunate statement, which was criticised by the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP).

Guyanese-born Justice Louise Blenman made a very bold decision in Antigua when she found that there were breaches in the process of the last general elections in the constituencies that elected Spencer, John Maginley, Minister of Tourism, and Jacqui Quinn Leandro, Minister of Education, and vacated the three seats. But another judge the same day stayed the order and appeals were filed and later heard by the Appellate Court, but the decision has not yet been given by Chief Justice Hugh Rawlins and the two other appellate judges.

Over in Dominica, Vincentian-born judge Errol Thomas on August 25 made a ruling that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt and one of his ministers, Peter Saint Jean, should face trial over a claim that they were not eligible to contest the last general elections because they have dual citizenship.

The same judge had made another controversial decision last October in St Kitts when he ruled in the boundaries case in which he found that the Denzil Douglas government violated the Constitution.

It is interesting to note that Justice Thomas was transferred on September 1 from Antigua and Barbuda to St Kitts.

Another Vincentian-born judge, Brian Cottle, made a ruling in St Lucia in August last year in which he ruled that a Cabinet conclusion on the Tuxedo Villas affair that allowed the Health Minister concessions for his Bonne Terre home as part of his Tuxedo Villas mini hotel was unreasonable and had to be quashed.

An appeal against Cottle's ruling was dismissed by the Court of Appeal last June.

Although judges of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) and do not fall under the regional governments, the administration is nevertheless responsible for accommodation, security, clerical staff, etc., and perhaps at liberty to make "life difficult for them" in their day to day activities.

It is said that judges who are close to the administration can get better facilities than others, but there is no serious complaint in this regard.

September 15, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

No referendum needed for St Kitts-Nevis to join the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), says Prime Minister Denzil Douglas

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) -- St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas said on Tuesday the twin-island Federation does not have to hold a referendum to join the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Responding to a question during his weekly radio call in programme “Ask the Prime Minister,” Douglas said St Kitts and Nevis would proceed to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), as part of the collective body that presently utilizes the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) system.

“I have been advised of this sometime ago. We do not necessarily have to hold a referendum if we want to advance to the CCJ as our final appellate court rather than utilizing the (London-based) British Appellate Court,” said Douglas, who said he was willing to check with legal advisers to see if the position remains the same.

“We support the CCJ. We are not against it for we support it, but we will advance with the other OECS countries as the entirety of the OECS Supreme court system,” said Douglas.

Of all the CARICOM member countries only Barbados and Guyana have the CCJ as their final appellate court.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is the regional judicial tribunal established by the “Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice.” It had a long gestation period commencing in 1970 when the Jamaican delegation at the Sixth Heads of Government Conference, which convened in Jamaica, proposed the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Appeal in substitution for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The Caribbean Court of Justice has been designed to be more than a court of last resort for Member States of the Caribbean Community. For, in addition to replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the CCJ will be vested with an original jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community. In effect, the CCJ would exercise both an appellate and an original jurisdiction.

In the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ will consider and determine appeals in both civil and criminal matters from common law courts within the jurisdictions of Member states of the Community and which are parties to the Agreement Establishing the CCJ. In the discharge of its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ will be the highest municipal court in the Region.

In the exercise of its original jurisdiction, the CCJ will be discharging the functions of an international tribunal applying rules of international law in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty.

By interpreting and applying the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which establishes the CSME, the CCJ will determine in a critical way how the CSME functions.

Member States signing on to the agreement establishing the CCJ agree to enforce its decisions in their respective jurisdictions like decisions of their own superior courts.

October 15, 2009

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog Bahamas