Latest update May 31st, 2026 12:46 AM
Latest News
- Turkish power company holds Guyana at ransom for more $$$ as contract expires
- Exxon commences 3-month offshore inspection of Gas-to-Energy pipeline
- Widespread floods prompt Cabinet fanout amidst claims of dysfunctional pump stations
- Iran demands US$300B reconstruction fund
- Arudranauth Gossai elected new Bar Association president
St. Lucia awaiting greenlight from the UK to delink from Privy Council
DEAR EDITOR,
While the St. Lucia Government is awaiting the greenlight from the UK to delink from the Privy
Council in order to join the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, has blasted governments from the countries which have not yet abolished appeals to the Privy Council..
Arthur’s recent comments were in Jamaica at the Gleaner Editors’ Forum over the weekend.
His criticism was severe on the government of Trinidad and Tobago, which he said fought for the regional court to be headquartered in that country and to date it has not yet joined the appellate division of the court. He pointed out maybe the twin-island republic is the only country on the planet in which a court is located and it is not a member. Jamaica, the other big state in the region, was also criticized for the delay.
The Heads of Government in the region took a decision since 1988 to establish the regional court and I recall the Edward Seaga JLP government was in the forefront with Trinidad and Tobago, urging countries to join the regional court. It took 17 years for the Court to be established on April 6, 2005, and now ten years after inauguration, only four countries – Guyana, Barbados, Belize, and recently Dominica – have severed ties with the London-based Privy Council.
St. Lucia, which recently successfully sought an opinion from the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal for that country to join the regional court without a referendum, will seek approval from Parliament after receiving formal blessings from the British government. Approval from the St. Lucia Parliament will take some time, because there is a 90-day laying and debating period before a vote is taken and it requires 2/3 majority of the lawmakers
The process is slow and the governments are not in a hurry, but nevertheless the President of the Court CCJ Sir Denis Byron is optimistic that before the end of next year the two big countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, will be on board and most of the Eastern Caribbean countries.
Oscar Ramjeet
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.