CARICOM: Meddling Gov’ts scare investors

The public education campaign hosted by CARICOM regarding the Caribbean Court of Justice and Single Market continued today in Belize City. But while the audience might have been small, the items up for discussion are of significant importance to the Caribbean community. One common trend among member countries is the interference of governments in judicial matters. According to legal consultant Duke Pollard, many governments don’t realise that a tainted image of justice in their countries drives investors away.

Duke Pollard, Legal Consultant on C.C.J.

“No investor will come freely into a jurisdiction where there is no plausible assurance that if something goes wrong he can go to the court and get swift, credible justice. If there is any doubt in the investor’s mind about the quality of the judicial services that you can get in any jurisdiction, he is not going to risk his investment there. The quality of justice is an indispensable incentive to investment in any jurisdiction. So governments which try to interfere with the independence of the judiciary are in short shooting themselves in the foot.”

The education campaign ends at the Radisson tomorrow.