Put CCJ issue to a regional vote: St Lucia opposition leader

Former St Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony has suggested that the Caribbean region hold a region-wide referendum to decide whether to adopt the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the region's final court of appeal.

“I do not believe that any government should go into amending their particular constitution to facilitate accession to the CCJ unless they secure the agreement of the opposition,” said Anthony.

The St Lucian opposition leader added that when the time comes for St Lucia to access the jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice "we would support it, we are not going to play games."

He said, "We articulated a position when we were in government and we are maintaining that position in opposition, we are not going to be hypocrites on this issue.”

Last month the St Vincent government of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves suffered a major setback when voters overwhelmingly rejected a new constitution, which included a provision to adopt the CCJ as the country’s final court of appeal.

Anthony said political parties across the region should agree to a vote to be held across the region on the same day, adding that such a vote should not be based on partisan politics.

He said the way to avoid that is to have discussions and consultations between the opposition and governments in each state. CARICOM has accepted the Trinidad-based CCJ as a tribunal to hear disputes arising out of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

However, only Barbados and Guyana have signed on to the court as their highest court of appeal, while the others still retain the British Privy Council.

Trinidad and Tobago's opposition leader, Basdeo Panday, opposes the court as an alternative to the Privy Council because he believes there is the risk of political interference.

Some other states have also objected to the court for a variety of reasons, including the cost of holding votes to settle the issue.