Should CCJ replace the Privy Council?

THE Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will be inaugurated in Port-of-Spain on November 15, but the Law Association is conducting a poll seeking responses from more than 1,000 lawyers as to whether the CCJ should replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council at this time.

Karl Hudson-Phillip QC, President of the Law Association, told Newsday yesterday that the association wants to know how lawyers feel about the proposed CCJ which will soon become a reality with headquarters in Port-of-Spain. Two questions have been asked in the questionnaire. 1. Do you agree that the Caribbean Court of Justice should have compulsory and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes concerning the interpretation and application of the Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community? 2. Should the Caribbean Court of Justice replace the Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal in all civil and all criminal matters? Hudson-Phillip said that in 1997, a poll was conducted among the more than 1,000 members of the profession. The consensus, according to the association’s president, showed that the lawyers were against abolishing appeals to the Privy Council. This poll was conducted at a time when the then UNC Government was involved with other Caribbean countries in having the CCJ as the region’s final Court of Appeal. Why then another poll?

Hudson-Phillip admitted that a lot has happened since the last poll. “We want to know what the profession is thinking of right now. We held an extraordinary general meeting just before the end of the last law term. The meeting decided that this was an important issue and that a poll should take place.” Hudson-Phillip said of the more than 1,000 members of the association, about 50 percent have e-mail addresses. So, it was decided at last Wednesday’s meeting of the Council that there must be an advertisement placed in the daily newspapers. This was done yesterday. The association has given lawyers until September 30 to submit their responses to the secretary, Hendrickson Seunath SC. Hudson-Phillip said if the results of the poll are different to that of 1997, an announcement will be made. Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip saw the advertisement in the newspaper. She said that lawyers will be the ones to benefit the most from the CCJ. The Attorney General told Newsday yesterday that lawyers will certainly have more access to the CCJ than they had with the Privy Council. “Certainly, there will be more activity here (Trinidad) than over there with the Privy Council. They will have to take into consideration two things - the distance to go to London and the costs in getting there. The litigants will also have an advantage of having easier access to the highest court. These are things which lawyers will have to consider when answering that poll,” Morean-Phillip added.

Former UNC Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who pursued the establishment of the CCJ, said the PNM Government was committing a serious breach of undertaking by pursuing with the inauguration of the CCJ without proper consultation. He said his Government decided to establish the CCJ on the basis that there will be extensive public consultations and if necessary, a referendum. “I took the position that the legal profession and the public should have a say before this court becomes a reality.” Maharaj said the Government needs a special majority in Parliament if it is to enact legislation to have the CCJ as this final appellate court. “As things look right now, that is not going to happen. The Government have been hosting functions without Parliamentary approval. That is putting the cart before the horse.” Maharaj said the attitude of the Government can open the country to serious legal action. Although he was one of the driving forces for the establishment of the CCJ, Maharaj believes the time is not right for such a court.