AG: Dispute not affecting death penalty appeal

ATTORNEY GENERAL John Jeremie has said the current maritime boundary dispute between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados is not affecting the two nations’ ability to jointly appeal (with Jamaica) a decision by the Privy Council to make the death penalty non-mandatory for the capital offence of murder in Caricom territories. In November 2003, the Privy Council ruled that the death penalty was no longer mandatory for the offence of  murder in Caricom territories with TT, Barbados and Jamaica used as examples. Following that ruling, Jeremie indicated that TT, Barbados and Jamaica would join forces in appealing the Privy Council’s decision. The appeal is set for the third week of this month in London.

Speaking with Newsday during the tea break in the Senate on Tuesday, the AG disclosed that the current TT-Barbados maritime dispute has not affected his ability to cooperate with his Barbadian counterpart Mia Mottley in their upcoming case before the Law Lords. “We (TT, Barbados, Jamaica) have all exchanged briefs,” Jeremie said. The AG indicated that Mottley recently sent him her travel details and both of them are working closely together with their Jamaican counterpart to ensure that they are fully prepared for that appeal. Jeremie also said the TT team that will handle arbitration under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is well-advanced in its preparations. The team includes two regional experts on the Law of the Sea, Charles Sabga and Delicia Noel from the office of the AG (the latter being an expert in fishing and delimitation matters), two legal officers attached to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and TT’s Ambassador to the UN, Phillip Sealey.

Jeremie disclosed that the two Foreign Affairs officials are currently meeting with Government’s solicitors in the United Kingdom and the team has completed the bulk of its preliminary work as far as the arbitration is concerned. The AG added that the team was formed and began its work once Government received the note from Bridgetown, signalling the Barbadian government’s intention to settle the current dispute by arbitration.