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Attorney says he’s against St Lucia joining CCJ

caribbean-court-of-JusticeFrom Go-Jamaica

A member of the St Lucia delegation that attended the constitutional talks leading to the island’s political independence from Britain more than three decades ago, says he is against breaking ties with the London-based Privy Council.

Attorney Evans Calderon, who is one of two surviving delegates to the talks more than 34 years ago, told a local newspaper that he also believes that to join the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the island would have to stage a referendum.

The CCJ, established in 2001 to replace the Privy Council as the region’s final court, serves also as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the 15-member regional integration grouping.

CCJIt has both an original and appellate jurisdiction but while most of the CARICOM member countries are signatories to the original jurisdiction, only Barbados, Belize and Guyana have signed to the appellate jurisdiction.

For more on this story go to:

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=45838

From Wikepedia: The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Established in 2001, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The CCJ sits at 134 Henry Street in Port of Prince.

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). As of 2011, Barbados, Belize, and Guyana have replaced the JCPC’s appellate jurisdiction with that of the CCJ.

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