Caribbean Court of Justice celebrates tenth anniversary

(Trinidad Express) The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has said that over the past ten years 160 matters have been filed and 140 disposed in its appellate jurisdiction. And CCJ president Sir Dennis Byron believes that all member states will inevitably replace the British Privy Council with the CCJ.
“It is an evolutionary process, the Privy Council having been the final court of appeal of Caricom countries for hundreds of years,” said Sir Dennis in a statement.
The CCJ is celebrating ten years since it began its operations as the exclusive court for the Caricom Single Market and Economy and as the court designed to replace the British Privy Council as the final court of appeal for the Caricom region.
In this the tenth year of the CCJ, Dominica became the fourth member state to accept the court in its appellate jurisdiction to replace the Privy Council on March 27 of this year, the CCJ said in the statement.
Sir Dennis noted that in its original jurisdiction in which the court presides over disputes arising under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, 18 matters have been heard with 16 disposed.
Perhaps what is even more significant about the work of the court during the period is the fact that it is increasing, as was seen by the 67 per cent increase in judgments delivered by the court between 2013 and 2014, Sir Dennis noted.
As an indication of the quality of judgments produced by the CCJ, the court was in 2013 awarded the “Most Important Published Decision” by the Global Arbitration Review for its decision in the matter British Caribbean Bank v AG of Belize.
While the decision given in Shanique Myrie v Barbados in which Myrie, a Jamaican, accused Barbados of violating her right to free moment, has been hailed as a “landmark” decision.
“The Court has in fact done a lot of work; it has been well done and it has been received by the persons and corporations who have benefited from the adjudication of the court,” noted Sir Dennis.
In his view, “former president Justice de la Bastide insisted on laying down the groundwork for judicial excellence in the CCJ”.
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of its inauguration, the court will be unveiling a photographic exhibition depicting the history of the Court over the last ten years which will be open to the public from April 20 at the headquarters of the CCJ in Port of Spain.