CARICOM Chief Justices ask to delay C.C.J.
Chief Justices of CARICOM have forwarded a recommendation to their respective governments that the scheduled November fifteenth inauguration of the Caribbean Court of Justice be pushed back. Chairman of the Caribbean Conference of Chief Justices and Heads of the Judiciary, our own Dr. Abdulai Conteh, made the announcement this afternoon. The Chief Justice was briefing the media on the outcome of the group’s recently concluded sixth annual meeting held in Caye Chapel. According to Conteh, although the treaty establishing the C.C.J. has been in force since February, glitches in the system have delayed the physical setting up of the court.
Dr. Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice
“Because of the difficulties in getting the judges, the applicants yet, it is not feasible to inaugurate the court by November fifteenth, which was the projected date that we had hoped the court will be up and running. And that is why at our level when we had full briefing from members of the secretariat who are dealing with it, Mr. Dick Pollard and Mr. Sheldon McDonald, we felt that it will be practically impossible to have the court by the fifteenth of November, which was just round the corner. So we think it would be in keeping if we push it to at least by the first quarter of next year, end of March beginning April. Then we hope things would have been in place.”
Conteh says that the legal services commission, which will oversee the hiring of the judges, has been appointed. Similarly, a trust fund to ensure that the C.C.J. is independently funded has been set up by Caribbean Development Bank. Belize’s Chief Justice is a member of that board.
But the deferment of the inauguration of the Caribbean Court of Justice was not the only subject under discussion during the three-day retreat. The judges also looked at enhancing regional judicial cooperation, encouraging the exchange of personnel and maximizing the use of technology in the dispensation of justice. Another issue that evoked strong comments from the judges was money laundering. Chief Justice Conteh says his colleagues agreed that the region’s courts should not let public or governmental opinion push them toward bias in the prosecution of such offences.
Dr. Abdulai Conteh
“This perception that the Caribbean is a haven for money laundering, we at the head of the judiciary found and believe that there is no empirical evidence to support that perception. It is a disservice to the governments of the region to even begin to think that their treasuries are subsidised by money launderers. That’s why we say as far as judges are concerned our duty is to hold the scale evenly between the accused and the accuser. We have no role in the prosecutorial process. If you bring the case to court, you have the evidence, we will apply the law.”
Apart from the draft constitution for the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Judiciary, the budget for a project to provide regional judicial training and education was also discussed and approved.
