Nelson appointed CCJ Judge

APPEAL COURT Judge Rolston Nelson SC  is among six persons appointed as the first crop of judges to the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The others are Madame Justice Desiree Bernard, Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana; Professor David Hayton, of the United Kingdom; Duke Pollard, Director, Caricom Legislative Drafting Facility; Justice Adrian Saunders, of St Vincent and Justice Jacob Wit, of the Netherland Antilles. They will join former Trinidad and Tobago Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide SC who was appointed chairman two months ago. The Caricom Secretariat in Guyana released the names of the new judges yesterday. But while two Trinidadians have been appointed to the CCJ, Trinidad and Tobago is facing a major international embarrassment as legislation has not yet been debated by the TT Parliament for the CCJ to replace Britain’s Privy Council as the final court of appeal. Trinidad and Tobago has been chosen as the headquarters of the CCJ. The inauguration should have taken place on November 6 in Port-of-Spain, but has been pushed back to March 2005 because some countries have not yet passed legislation to make the CCJ the final court.

Grenada was one of the countries planning to debate the CCJ legislation in September, but Hurricane Ivan ended those plans on September 7. The Parliament building was damaged and when sittings reconvened on November 5, the CCJ legislation was not on the agenda. The Grenada Government holds a slender 8-7 majority in Parliament. In TT the ruling PNM Government will also need a special majority to pass the CCJ legislation. The Government will need the support of the Opposition to replace the Privy Council. Already, the Opposition has indicated that it will not support such legislation, although in 1999, then Prime Minister Basdeo Panday signed the treaty in Barbados to create the CCJ. Most of the other Caribbean islands have already passed legislation. Guyana had dropped the Privy Council years ago, but passed legislation last month to make the CCJ its final court of appeal. Millions of dollars were spent on the Winsure building on Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain to house the CCJ. But it was later determined that there was no elevator for the judges.