The Revised Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund (the Revised Agreement) entered into force on Tuesday 27 January 2004 on signature by ten (10) of the CARICOM Member States. The States that have signed the Revised Agreement to date are Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, both signatories to the original Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund, are expected to sign the Revised Agreement shortly. Haiti and Montserrat, though not signatories of the original Agreement, are expected to eventually join the Trust Fund and complete their participation in the institutional arrangements of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The entry into force of the Revised Agreement is an important step towards the establishment of the CCJ. With the formalisation of the Trust Fund, the members of the Board of Trustees who were nominated in August 2003, can now conclude the important preliminary tasks assigned to them under the Revised Agreement. These include the establishment of guidelines for the prudential investment of the resources of the fund, the establishment of financial rules and regulations of the Fund, the appointment of the Trust Fund’s Executive Officer and Investment Advisors and Fund Managers.
Since the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will raise the initial money for the Trust Fund on behalf of most of the parties to the Trust Fund Agreement, the most of the Member States have concluded Loan Agreements with the CDB. Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to sign their respective Loan Agreements with the Bank in a short time.
At the national level, CARICOM Member States have accelerated the process of enacting domestic legislation to give effect to the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Revised Trust Fund Agreement and all other Caribbean Court of Justice Instruments. Legislation has been passed in Barbados and Saint Lucia. Suriname has a different constitutional structure from the other Member States that provides the international Agreements to have the force of domestic law on ratification by the President. In Belize, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Caribbean Court of Justice Bills have been presented to parliament and are either being debated or are about to be debated. In Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana and St. Kitts and Nevis, Cabinet has issued instructions for legislation to be drafted and presentation to Parliament.
While the Trust Fund arrangements are being perfected, the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) is considering the applications received for the crucial office of President of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The RJLSC will be issuing advertisements for the first compliment of Judges by the middle of February 2004 and is also working assiduously towards the development of the court systems.
The Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice met in Montego Bay, Jamaica on the 27 January 2004. The meeting which was chaired by the Hon. Mia Mottley, Q.C., M.P. the Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General of Barbados received reports on the work of the Board of Trustees, the RJLSC and the High-Level Task Force planning the inauguration of the Court. The Preparatory Committee also considered the final preparation of draft rules of Court and held fruitful discussions with a delegation from the Jamaica Bar Association. The Preparatory Committee will meet again before the Fifteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government on 25-26 March 2004 to consider what inauguration date it would recommend to Heads of Government.
The culmination of arrangements for the Caribbean Court of Justice by the individual Member States and the Treaty Bodies established for the Court take the people of the Caribbean Community closer to harmony and national sovereignty and facilitates the advance of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
