PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The cross-Caribbean hearings of the Shanique Myrie case have given the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) much-needed and well-deserved prominence as a forum where the average Caricom citizen can seek legal protection and redress. While the CCJ has had some impact on the life of the region, none of the cases that have come before it has excited the public imagination as much as the discrimination and sexual assault case of Shanique Myrie vs Barbados. Given the transnational nature of the case, which involves allegations by a Jamaican woman against Barbadian authorities before a court based in Trinidad and Tobago, the CCJ took a historic decision to conduct its hearings in Jamaica and Barbados before final presentations in Port of Spain last week. Its willingness to move from island to island to spare witnesses the expense and inconvenience of travel, demonstrated an admirable flexibility and people-centred approach to conducting its business.
