CARICOM worried about future of POS-based CCJ

Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize says he has held talks with Michael de la Bastide, President of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) amidst mounting concerns over threats to the court’s existence.

The CCJ was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s final court. The United National Congress (UNC) was in government at the time under the leadership of Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have only signed on to the original jurisdiction of the court that serves as an international tribunal to interpret the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs CARICOM.

So far, only Barbados, Guyana and Belize are signatories to the appellate jurisdiction of the court.

Last weekend, five eminent CARICOM nationals called on the Trinidad and Tobago government to “distance itself” from what they called "threats to the existence of the CCJ".

Former Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, former CARICOM Secretary General Alister Mc Intyre, former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal, Dominica’s President Nicholas Liverpool and University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor Sir George Alleyne, warned that "issues have arisen in Trinidad and Tobago “which could threaten the very existence of the CCJ”.

Their concern is based on media reports that suggest that Trinidad and Tobago is putting too much to finance the court.

Barrow said media reports suggest that "the new government there could be contemplating the possibility of asking the Community to take the court elsewhere."
However he also stressed that his concerns are based on media reports.

"I don’t know that any official position has been taken by the new government of Trinidad and Tobago but the press report was worrying enough for President de la Bastide to discuss the matter with me since I am the CARICOM head with the most direct responsibility for the court,” Barrow told local television on Monday night.

Barrow said the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration has not made any public statement regarding the location of the CCJ.

“I don’t think we ought to get carried away because there is nothing, I repeat, that’s official from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago suggesting that it is even contemplating such a move,” he added.

On August 12, the Trinidad Express newspaper ran a story indicating that Port of Spain had spent just over TT$200 million (US$33.3 million) to fund the CCJ since its inception in 2006.

The newspaper said Trinidad and Tobago’s share of the US$99.5 million Trust Fund to finance the court is US$31.6 million.

The leader of the opposition in Trinidad and Tobago has urged the new government to embrace the court.

Read the story: Rowley urges TT gov't to embrace CCJ

The five eminent Caribbean nationals said that the agreement establishing the CCJ was signed "on the basis of the modalities that were agreed upon by the regional leaders", including the then Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.

“We wish particularly to correct the inference that Trinidad and Tobago is carrying a disproportionate cost of the CCJ. The running costs of the Court are paid from the annual income of a Trust Fund of approximately US$100 million raised by the Caribbean Development Bank.

"All CARICOM countries are responsible for the Trust fund in agreed amounts,” they said.