TT Opposition says CCJ is a waste of money

Former Trinidad & Tobago Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide is President of the CCJ

Two political heavyweights clashed in a political duel in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament Friday over the relevance of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Opposition Chief Whip and former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj suggested that the court was irrelevant noting that justices spent "most of the time drinking coffee and reading papers."

He called on the government to either close down to CCJ or find a way to build public confidence in it.

Speaking on the CCJ Bill in the House of Representatives, the Tabaquite MP claimed that many Caricom prime ministers were having second thoughts as to whether they should continue to pay the expenses of maintaining the court.

He said no cases are going to the court and judges are not pleased with the fact that they have nothing to do. He suggested that the Government consider whether the jurisdiction of the CCJ could be expanded as a Court of Appeal in a range of matters, while allowing for a further appeal to the Privy Council.

He said Caribbean leaders knew that their people did not support the CCJ and they were rethinking the wisdom of having such a court.

That statement promoted Prime Minister Manning to spring to his feet with a denial. Manning was adamant that at no time there were doubts on supporting the court.

Maharaj shot back saying Barbados had reservations, adding that Prime Minister David Thompson made it clear that unless Trinidad and Tobago was part of the court, it would be a waste of time.

He demanded that the Government give the population an account on how much money it has spent so far on the CCJ. He also that the government reassess the situation to see how best the court could be utiltized given the resources being dedicated to it.

Manning insisted the court would be financially independent, adding that the only additional cost was that the CCJ headquarters would be in Trinidad.

In her contribution to the debate, Maharaj's colleague, Kamla Persad-Bissessar wondered why Trinidad and Tobago was investing millions of dollars in a regional court when the local judiciary needs additional resources.

The Siparia MP noted that statistics show that a shortage of legal personnel is causing a mammoth backlog of cases at the level of the magistrates courts. Too often, she said, cases are just called and postponed.

The former Attorney General said there are thousands of cases before the courts that cannot be heard because of inadequate resources while the government is pumping millions in a court that is idle with no cases to hear.

She said since the court's inauguration the government has spent $204 million on it, with no accountability to the people.

The court was inaugurated in April 2005 and started hearing cases in 2006. But so far it has heard only 12 cases - seven from Guyana and five from Barbados. And it has given judgments in three of the cases in Guyana.

Only these two countries have signed on to support the CCJ as their final court of appeal.

Trinidad and Tobago is footing the cost for the CCJ headquarters (it spent $3.8 million on the inauguration in April 2005) but it retains the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London remains as this country’s final court.

Other countries in the Caribbean have agreed in principle to joining the CCJ, they have not done so primarily because in each case they lack the required constitutional majority to make the change.