Introduction
Salutation
Chairman,
The cultural history of the Caribbean reveals that its artists are usually the main repositories of its dreams and so, it is only fitting that the words of Saint Lucian poet Kendel Hippolyte should preface my remarks to you today.
“Island in the sun
my father’s hand
stained with your soil
has never owned you
so, I am claiming you now
acre by acre
dream after dream.”
Today we advance one significant step closer to attaining one more of the dreams which lie deep within the breasts of the people of our region, past and present.
In 1962 our sister island Jamaica led the way in the attainment of the dream of political independence. Today, almost all of us have arrived at that exalted stage. There was once another dream, the establishment of a regional centre for the achievement of excellence in higher education. That dream too was realised in the creation of the University of the West Indies.
Today, we the children of independent nations, many of whom are products of UWI, are gathered here to witness the realisation of yet another regional dream: our own final appellate court, with our blessing and in our image.
History of Process
The history of the process which sees its culmination in today’s signing has been expertly chronicled by Master Hugh Rawlins, a former lecturer at the Faculty of Law, U.W.I., and now a Master of the OECS Court of Appeal. In his booklet, The Establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice: the History and Analysis of the Debate, Master Rawlins identifies four distinct periods in the progress towards the Court. The first phase occurred during the 1970s, following the tabling of a Resolution by the Government of Jamaica at the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.
Rawlins notes, and I quote;
“The hallmark of this first period is the openness and intensity of the debate. Above all, it is notable for the attempts which were made by various interested persons, Commissions and groups to come to terms with the idea of relinquishing final appeals to the Privy Council and to make position statements.”
The second phase was that period of sober reflection and relative calm from the late 1970’s to 1988. During that time public pronouncements may have subsided but the issue was kept simmering in the minds of many throughout the Region.
In 1989, the Heads of Government Meeting in Grand Anse, Grenada brought the debate firmly back onto the front-burner with their decision to proceed to establish a Caribbean Court which would replace the Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal for the Region. This landmark decision took the issue from the arena of academic debate and located it within the realms of regional political decision-making. Decades of intellectual debate had, by this visionary act of the Heads of Government, become fused with the political will required to make such a court a reality.
This position was reaffirmed with vigour and a great deal of candour during the fourth phase, which commenced with the 1992 Report of the West Indian Commission, A Time for Action. In its Report, the Commission made the following telling affirmation in support of a regional Court.
“. . . we are strongly of the view that we cannot, like characters in a Checkov play, go on sitting around tables forever discussing the pros and cons of action and in the process forever deferring it . . . the case for the CARICOM Supreme Court, with both a general appellate jurisdiction and an original one, is now overwhelming – indeed it is fundamental to the process of integration itself.”
Chairman, I have taken you through this synopsis of the history of the dream that we are about to realize tonight in order to make a simple but fundamental point: the creation of a Caribbean Court of Justice does not owe its inspiration to the decision of the Privy Council in the string of cases commencing with Pratt, Morgan and others v. The Queen. Indeed the assertion that the Court is a response to the decisions of the Privy Council in relation to capital punishment belittles, indeed, degrades, the noble aspirations of the many in this Region who have long dreamt and fought for this affirmation of independence.
AFFIRMING OUR INDEPENDENCE
Indeed, Chairman, it is the need to affirm our independence and assert our sovereignty that has impelled and continues to propel us towards a Caribbean Court. I fully support the sentiments of one of our noted Human Rights Activists, Lawyer Douglas Mendes of Trinidad and Tobago, expressed at a Caribbean Rights Symposium held in 1998. I quote:
“. . . you cannot as an independent nation, call yourself independent if you must go to a foreign court as your final Court of Appeal. It seems to me that that is the only argument that is logical and it is the only argument that is needed in support of . . . our own final court of appeal.”
The cycle of independence which began in 1962 when Jamaica attained independence from Great Britain can never be considered complete until the final determination of rights, duties and the interests of Caribbean litigants are pronounced by a regional court.
Let me, at this juncture, state categorically that the Region has no quarrel with the Privy Council. Many of us here gathered have a great deal of respect and admiration for that body having appeared before their Lordships over the years. The Privy Council has served the Region well over time and it would be remiss of us if we did not acknowledge its contribution tot he jurisprudence in the Region.
Equally, we must never devalue ourselves. The outstanding judgements of the Privy Council have been fashioned by the ingenuity of our lawyers and judges, whether in our High Courts or Courts of Appeal. Caribbean Courts have taught the Privy Council how to interpret written constitutions.
Our signing here today of the Agreement to eventually bring into being a regional court which will replace the Privy Council should not therefore be seen as a repudiation of that body but rather as an assumption of responsibility by the Region for its final judicial decisions.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
In preparing for the eventual coming into being f the Court, the Heads have consistently directed that the people of the Region must be kept informed concerning this initiative and their views canvassed. I am heartened therefore by the news that the Preparatory Committee set up by Heads at our Twentieth Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago has approved, and implemented the first phase of a Regional Public Education programme.
That phase, I have been advised, saw the dissemination of copies of all draft instruments, the publication of the Hugh Rawlins booklet, the production of two booklets in simple language addressing basic questions about the Court and various other public meetings and discussions in the media throughout the Region. Equally important, I note the two consultative meetings held in Saint Lucia between the Preparatory Committee and the Presidents of the Bar and Law Associations of Member States, at which meetings various proposals were advanced for strengthening the Agreement to establish the Court.
I take this opportunity to place on record our sincerest thanks and appreciation to the Presidents who, despite their reservations participated in the process, thereby ensuring that the final product will be an institution of which we can all be proud.
It would be remiss of me, Chairman, if I did not also take the opportunity to place on record our thanks and appreciation to the members of the Preparatory Committee and the beleaguered officials of the Legal Division of the CARICOM Secretariat.
The Preparatory Committee, under the committed and inspirational leadership of the Attorney-General of Barbados, and the Staff of the Legal Division have performed a near miracle in producing a consensus on such a vital and provocative matter.
Perhaps, Chairman, I may use this occasion to signal to my colleague Prime Ministers my intention to raise with them the issue of additional support for the Legal Division, particularly in anticipation of the onerous responsibilities the Division will have to assume in the implementation of the Single Market and Economy.
Chairman, tonight is “a time for action”. The debate on the establishment of a regional court as our final court of appeal stretches back over fifty years. Tonight we move from debate to decision. By affixing our signatures to the Agreement before us, on behalf of our respective Governments and people, we will be committing ourselves to claiming our islands in the sun. . . dream after dream . . . Tonight it is the Court, tomorrow we look forward to free movement of people and capital and a fully functional Single Market and Economy.
Chairman, I am convinced that as we gather here tonight, generations of Caribbean peoples past, and generations to come, are silent witnesses to this ceremony. We are here to act in their memory and on their behalf. The historic act of transforming a dream into a functioning institution is ours and form that task we cannot renege.
I unequivocally commend the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice to my colleague Heads of Government for signature.
Thank you.
