Outgoing president pleas for further support for CCJ

By Peter Richards

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) — Outgoing President of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders, Tuesday praised regional leaders for their foresight in establishing the court to replace the London-based Privy Council as the Caribbean highest and final court.

But the St. Vincent and the Grenadines-born jurist urged regional countries not to badtalk the court, which has been perhaps, the only institution or initiative in the Caribbean that has been more studied, debated or written about, both regionally and internationally.

“Neither the federal experiment nor independence or, for that matter, republicanism gained the same kind of traction,” Justice Saunders said, adding that regional government leaders “can be rightly proud of this unique institution they have fashioned”.

Justice Saunders, the third Caribbean national to serve as the CCJ president, spent 20 years with the court that was established on Feb. 14, 2001, through the signing of the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. The court officially began operations on April 16, 2005.

Justice Saunders, who will retire on July 3, will be replaced by Jamaican jurist, Justice Winston Anderson.

Speaking at a special sitting of the court where he was lauded for his lifetime work as a jurist by colleagues and his peers from all over the Caribbean and further afield, Justice Saunders, who is the last of the original judges when the CCJ began its operations, said the presence of CARICOM Secretary-General, Carla Barnett “is a solid indication of that pride which CARICOM takes in the  CCJ and of the role the court has played over the last two decades in anchoring the community in the rule f law”.

The CCJ has both an appellate jurisdiction and an original jurisdiction with the latter also serving as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration movement.

“This is an international, not a domestic court.  Our only assets to enforce our judgements are the trust and confidence repose in the court by the governments and people of the region,” Justice Saunders said, adding, “if you wish to know the true opinion of CARICOM states about the Caribbean Court of Justice, don’t count the number of states that have acceded to the appellate jurisdiction.

“That is pure politics, untidy, disappointing and sometimes frustrating politics. Look instead at the respect accorded by all CARICOM states to the judgements of the court. Look at the timely and full compliance of those judgements. Look at the regard with which they have for the intimations of the court.”

Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Lucia and Guyana are the full members of the CCJ, while the rest of the 15-member regional grouping are members only of the original jurisdiction.

Justice Saunders said the CCJ is by no means perfect, “but if over the last 20 years, the court had failed any of the severe challenges before it, we would have certainly heard it loud and clear, again and again.

“We haven’t.  Instead Caribbean detractors based their reluctance to embrace their own court by repeating groundless fears, by making assertions that have zero evidence to support them and by doing what they never do to the British court.

“That is to unfairly attribute to the CCJ, the imperfections of the domestic justice sector. And they do so as if those imperfections do not exist also in the United Kingdom’s trial courts. History will not treat us kindly”.

Justice Saunders acknowledged the presence of several regional heads of judiciary at the occasion, saying “I am humbled by your presence here today.

“Nine years with the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and 20 with this court … have allowed me to work in or closely with judicial officers of every single Commonwealth Caribbean country”.

He said he has also had the occasion to interact and share discussion panels with judges from various parts of the world, noting, “my encounter and experiences have reconfirmed for me that the best judges in the Caribbean are as good as the best judges anywhere else on the planet.

“We fail to appreciate this at our own peril, “ he said, adding, “I demit office convinced that the CCJ ship is in fine shape and good hands.

“The court has grown tremendously from a mere idea to a formidable institution, recognised internationally for its commitment to excellence,” he said, noting that his tenure has not been exceptional, but “merely built on the superb foundation established by my predecessors”.

He said he has no doubt that his successor, Justice Anderson, “under your leadership, the court will grow from strength to strength”.

Justice Saunders said that the CCJ has been able to withstand the challenges also due to the work of the Regional Judicial and Services Commission and praised current and former members “for their professionalism and their profound dedication to the court.

“They have demonstrated an unyielding commitment to efficiency, accountability and good governance,” the 70-year-old jurist said, adding, “from time to time, I have asked myself what it is that motivates them to volunteer the enormous amount of time, care and effort they do on such a sustained basis.

“I sense the answer to this is no different from that which motivates our judges, our staff and other stakeholders. We all are keenly aware that the advancement of human rights, democracy, self-determination and the rule of law in the Caribbean are inextricably linked to the success of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

“Our time and effort is an investment in our own environment, in our future and the future of the Caribbean which will be inhabited by our children and our children’s children,” Justice Saunders added.