Ramlogan dismisses critics, sees no problem with changing Privy Council for CCJ

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan on Thursday dismissed critics of the government's move to abolish the Privy Council in favour of the Caribbean Court of Justice as Trinidad & Tobago's final court of appeal in criminal matters.

Ramlogan said there is "ample precedent" within the Commonwealth for a phased withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Privy Council.

He noted that countries such as Canada, Malaysia and Singapore followed a similar path when they relinquished the criminal jurisdiction first and subsequently the civil jurisdiction. 

"Several countries did not sever the umbilical cord in one go but did it on a phased basis as we are doing, so there is ample precedent for the policy of the Government in this regard," he said.

Ramlogan was responding to comments by two attorneys general - Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and John Jeremie - who have suggested that there would be problems if T&T follows the path on which it has embarked.

Maharaj suggested that the British government could turn down the proposal. Ramlogan described Maharaj's comment as "mischevious and baseless".

The AG said, "I have personally spoken with the British High Commissioner, His Excellency Arthur Snow and he has given the assurance that the Privy Council has always maintained that it operates on a voluntary principle and that the accessing of the Court's jurisdiction is a matter for the discretion of the independent nations," that are party to the court. 

He added that there is no prospect of any diplomatic or political repercussions arising out of this policy decision by the Government.

With respect to Jeremie's concerns about problems with the CCJ treaty, Ramlogan said the current CCJ President, Sir Dennis Byron in welcoming the Prime Minister's announcement made no mention of any difficulty with such an approach. 

The Attorney General said similarly former CCJ president Michael De La Bastide made mention of no such obstacle. 

"But one must bear in mind that the treaty is a Caricom treaty and if it is that there is need for revision to accommodate a partial accessing of the Caribbean Court of Justice jurisdiction, one would hardly expect any resistance, as the court is presently under-utilised. 

"And this is a favourable move towards fully operationalising the court in dispensing justice. Ramlogan said one had to bear in mind the important announcement made by Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson to signal Jamaica's intention to access the CCJ as well," he said.

Ramlogan also commented to the Express about whether constitutional motions arising out of matters relating to the application of the death penalty would still go to the Privy Council.

"When I am drafting the bill, I will deal with that. But the intention is that all matters that emanate from the criminal side of the fence would go to the CCJ. And of course there are bound to be one or two permutations, but when we are drafting the bill, these would be taken care of. We would carefully carve and demarcate the jurisdictional boundaries," the AG said.