Caribbean court making progress

The wheels of justice are known to move slowly in this part of the world and the same could be said about the Caribbean Court of Justice. But some progress is being made towards the creation of the new body, which would replace the Privy Council as the final court of appeal in criminal cases. CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington says that the remaining obstacles are being overcome and the agreement establishing the court could be signed as early as next month’s CARICOM Intercessional Summit.

Edwin Carrington, CARICOM Secretary General

“We are hoping that the instrument, which is now settled and will be going before the legal affairs committee for final clearance on the twenty-second and twenty-third of this month, would be ready for signature, hopefully by the Heads of Government at the meeting in Barbados, the Intercessional Meeting of the Heads of Government, on the fourteenth to sixteenth of February.”

“The only thing I can say that is left to be done, apart from completing the funding, is the public education programme. The population at large must know and understand and be satisfied that this is a court which not only is above and beyond all the difficulties they anticipated, but most importantly brings justice closer to the people.”

Secretary General Carrington is expected in Belize later this month.