By Kimberly Ramkhalawan
May 9, 2023
St. Lucia is now the fifth CARICOM nation to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) its final court of Appeal.
In recognizing the move as a momentous occasion, CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders, congratulated St.Lucia and noted that the Constitution of Saint Lucia (Amendment) Act has been assented to by the Governor General of Saint Lucia and that state has now officially acceded to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction.
He shared that “statistics collated by the Court in 2022 reveal that in each Caribbean state that has acceded to the CCJ’s appellate jurisdiction, the volume of cases being heard by that country’s final court annually has at least doubled, thereby contributing to the dynamism of the country’s jurisprudence and considerably expanding access to justice for its citizenry”.
In this vein, Justice Saunders expressed that he had “no doubt that Saint Lucia too will have a similar experience”.
With the latest addition, it is expected that Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Dame Janice Pereira, and the President of the Saint Lucia Bar Association, Diana Thomas Hunte, have been written to advising of the readiness of the CCJ’s Registry staff to assist Saint Lucian court officials, litigants and counsel alike in the use of the CCJ’s electronic filing and case management portals in order to facilitate access to the Court.
Justice Saunders meanwhile shared the sentiment that the “CCJ looks forward to serving the people of Saint Lucia as we do all the states and people of the Caribbean Community and in particular, those of Guyana, Barbados, Belize and the Commonwealth of Dominica, whose final appeals we hear”, and added how much it “looks forward to more CARICOM states accessing the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction in the future”.
The Caribbean Court of Justice, established in 2005, is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community and is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was formed with the intention to be a hybrid institution, a municipal court of last resort and an international court vested with original, compulsory and exclusive jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
The Caribbean Court of Justice has two jurisdictions: an original jurisdiction and an appellate jurisdiction:
In its original jurisdiction, the CCJ interprets and applies the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (which established the Caribbean Community), and is an international court with compulsory and exclusive jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation of the treaty.
In its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ hears appeals as the court of last resort in both civil and criminal matters from those member states which have ceased to allow appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC).