Retiring Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) judge, Justice Andrew Burgess, wants all CARICOM member states acceding to its appellate jurisdiction, rather than Britain’s Privy Council.
“I would say it would inure to the benefit of the region if all the countries accede to the appellate jurisdiction. For one, the development of the common law depends upon judgment cases and if you do not have enough cases in the court, it sort of impedes the development of the common law appropriate to the region.
“From that perspective, I would say it would be desirable if all the territories in the region subscribed, because it would aid tremendously in the development of authentic Caribbean jurisprudence,” Justice Burgess told the Sunday Sun last week.
The CCJ was established in 2005 as the judicial institution of CARICOM, with an original jurisdiction onto which all 12 CARICOM member states signed and an appellate jurisdiction to which only Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana and St Lucia have signed as their final court of appeal.
In its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ hears appeals from lower courts in both civil and criminal matters from states which have replaced the Privy Council with the CCJ.
With the level of crime sweeping the Caribbean, Burgess also suggested the CCJ has a role in addressing the problem.
However, he pointed out that while the court “cannot ignore the fact that crime is on the increase in the region, at the same time it cannot lose sight of the fact that the constitution mandates that it makes sure that the person who is charged has a fair trial”.
“It is a question with which I grapple day in and day out,” Burgess admitted.
“One cannot deny that the level of criminality in the region is somewhat
worrying, but one has also to recognise that the constitutions of the various countries in the region have given rights to persons accused of crime. It therefore, seems to me that the court which is there to protect society is also there to protect the person charged with a crime, so the court has to do that balancing act.”
The only Barbadian to have sat on the CCJ, Burgess explained further that the court’s ability to perform that balancing act was “even more critical, because the decision of the CCJ is going to bind the Court of Appeals and the High Court, so whatever the CCJ does is going to have an effect down the justice order.”
He disclosed that many of the region’s courts have been making reference to the Needham’s Point Declaration which came out of a recent conference held in Barbados by the Caribbean Academy of Law, a CCJ affiliate.
“What this attempted to do, was to set up standards which courts will follow in sentencing and the treatment of crime. The point I am making is that the CCJ is attempting to make some contribution to the discussion on crime in the region not only through its judgments, but the court is using the medium of the Caribbean Academy of Law as well, to address the question of crime in the region.”
Burgess’ retirement from the CCJ, after a six-year term, takes effect next month. (GC)
