CCJ is a tribunal, not a court

FORMER Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday declared that Saturday’s ceremonial opening and launch of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Port-of-Spain was an act of injustice against the people of the Caribbean. The former AG told Newsday that what was launched was merely a tribunal to adjudicate on commercial disputes affecting the region and not the court that was envisioned by the governments and people of the Caribbean. He reiterated that in its present format, the CCJ would do little to assure that it is not an arm of the government designed to shield it from being accountable to both parliament and the people.

Maharaj claimed that the manner in which Prime Minister Patrick Manning advised President George Maxwell Richards to establish a tribunal to investigate allegations made against Chief Justice Sat Sharma, was one example of how the court could be deficient. He further alleged that as presently constituted, the CCJ could infringe upon the doctrine of separation of powers and the rule of law. Maharaj said Manning’s statements that TT would soon join the CCJ was “robber talk.”

He claimed that the Prime Minister knows he would be defeated on the CCJ whether he addressed it as an election issue or a referendum was held on it in TT. Maharaj also said it was obscene to spend approximately $5 million to launch the CCJ when Trinidad and Tobago’s Magistrates’ Courts were “in a mess” and there were high levels of poverty in the nation. The former AG said many people in the region were unaware of what the CCJ was all about and there is a need to educate them. Maharaj said a recently formed group, Operation Act TT, would address this task by seeking to draw regional and international attention to issues such as the CCJ, crime and corruption.