PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The outgoing President of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court docket of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders, Tuesday praised regional leaders for his or her foresight in establishing the court docket to switch the London-based Privy Council because the Caribbean highest and closing court docket.
Nonetheless, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines-born jurist urged regional international locations to not communicate ailing of the court docket, which has been the one establishment or initiative within the Caribbean that has been extra studied, debated, or written about, each regionally and internationally.
“Neither the federal experiment nor independence nor, for that matter, republicanism gained the identical form of traction,” Justice Saunders stated, including that regional authorities leaders “could be rightly pleased with this distinctive establishment they’ve usual.”
Justice Saunders, the third Caribbean nationwide to function the CCJ president, spent 20 years with the court docket, which was established on February 14, 2001, by the signing of the Settlement Establishing the Caribbean Court docket of Justice. The court docket formally started operations on April 16, 2005.
Justice Saunders, who will retire on July 3, might be changed by Jamaican jurist Justice Winston Anderson.
Talking at a Particular Sitting of the Court docket the place he was lauded and praised for his lifetime work as a jurist by colleagues and his friends from all around the Caribbean and additional afield, Justice Saunders, who was the final of the unique judges when the CCJ started its operations, stated the presence of the Caribbean Group (CARICOM) Secretary Basic, Dr. Carla Barnett “is a stable indication of that satisfaction which CARICOM takes within the CCJ and of the function the court docket has performed over the past 20 years in anchoring the Group within the rule f regulation.”
The CCJ has each an Appellate Jurisdiction and an Unique Jurisdiction, with the latter additionally serving as a world tribunal that interprets the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which governs the regional integration motion.
“That is a world, not a home court docket. Our solely belongings to implement our judgments are the belief and confidence repose within the court docket by the governments and folks of the area,” Justice Saunders stated, including, “If you happen to want to know the real opinion of CARICOM states concerning the Caribbean Court docket of Justice, don’t rely the variety of states which have acceded to the Appellate Jurisdiction.
“That’s pure politics, untidy, disappointing, and generally irritating politics. Look as an alternative on the respect accorded by all CARICOM states to the judgments of the court docket. Take a look at the well timed and full compliance of these judgments. Take a look at the regard with which they’ve for the intimations of the court docket.”
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Lucia, and Guyana are the total members of the CCJ, whereas the remainder of the 15-member regional grouping are members solely of the Unique Jurisdiction.
Justice Saunders stated the CCJ is in no way excellent, “but when over the past 20 years, the court docket had failed any of the extreme challenges earlier than it, we might have definitely heard it loud and clear, repeatedly.
“We haven’t. As an alternative, Caribbean detractors primarily based their reluctance to embrace their court docket on repeating groundless fears, making assertions with out proof to assist them, and doing what that they had by no means finished to the British court docket.
“That’s to unfairly attribute to the CCJ the imperfections of the home justice sector. They usually accomplish that as if these imperfections don’t exist additionally in the UK’s trial courts. Historical past won’t deal with us kindly”.
Justice Saunders stated that he needs to acknowledge the presence of a number of regional heads of the judiciary on this event, saying, “I’m humbled by your presence right here immediately.
“9 years with the Jap Caribbean Supreme Court docket and 20 with this court docket…have allowed me to work in or intently with judicial officers of each single Commonwealth Caribbean nation”.
He stated he has additionally needed to work together and share dialogue panels with judges from numerous components of the world, noting, “My encounter and experiences have reconfirmed for me that the most effective judges within the Caribbean are pretty much as good as the most effective judges wherever else on the planet.
“We fail to understand this at our peril, “ he stated, including, “I demit workplace satisfied that the CCJ ship is in effective form and good palms.
“The court docket has grown tremendously from a mere thought to a formidable establishment, acknowledged internationally for its dedication to excellence,” he stated, noting that his tenure has not been distinctive however “merely constructed on the excellent basis established by my predecessors.”
He stated he doesn’t doubt that his successor, Justice Anderson, “below your management, the court docket will develop from energy to energy.”
Justice Saunders stated that the CCJ has been capable of face up to the challenges additionally as a result of work of the Regional Judicial and Providers Fee and praised present and former members “for his or her professionalism and their profound dedication to the court docket.
“They’ve demonstrated an unyielding dedication to effectivity, accountability, and good governance,” the 70-year-old jurist stated, including, “On occasion, I’ve requested myself what it’s that motivates them to volunteer the large period of time, care, and energy they do on such a sustained foundation.
“I sense the reply to that is no completely different from that which motivates our judges, our workers, and different stakeholders. All of us are keenly conscious that the development of human rights, democracy, self-determination, and the rule of regulation within the Caribbean are inextricably linked to the success of the Caribbean Court docket of Justice.
“Our effort and time is an funding in the environment, in our future, and the way forward for the Caribbean, which might be inhabited by our kids and our kids’s kids,” Justice Saunders added.
