Antigua's PM 'Committed To CCJ'

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

06 July 2005

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, told a meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in St Lucia at the weekend that his government is committed to the full implementation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in its original and appellate jurisdictions.

Mr Spencer, who had previously been somewhat ambivalent on the subject of the CCJ, said he realised that it will be difficult to convince the people of Antigua and Barbuda to support the CCJ in its appellate jurisdiction, replacing the Privy Council in London. The government would have to win a two-thirds majority in a referendum in order to adopt the CCJ's appellate role.

In March, the government of Antigua and Barbuda announced that the jurisdiction had deposited its Instruments of Accession and Ratification of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) with the Caricom Secretariat.

According to a statement released by the government: "Antigua and Barbuda has only signed on to the CCJ in its Original Jurisdiction, with a referendum and two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives needed for the country to adopt the court in its Appellate Jurisdiction. In the exercise of its original jurisdiction, the CCJ will be discharging the functions of an international tribunal applying rules of international law in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty."

It concluded: "In this regard, the CCJ would be performing functions like the European Court of Justice, the European Court of First Instance, the Andean Court of Justice and the International Court of Justice. In short, the proposed CCJ is intended to be a hybrid institution - a municipal court of last resort and an international court with compulsory and exclusive jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty."

Last month, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the Rt. Hon Justice Michael de la Bastide told regional Attorneys-General to ensure that the CCJ is in receipt of all national legislation in relation to the Court, and to expedite adoption of the Appellate Jurisdiction Rules of Court, given that two Member States, Barbados and Guyana, have already enacted the legislation to give recognition to the CCJ as their final court.

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