(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Eighth Ordinary Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC) was held at the Krasnapolsky Hotel Paramaribo, Suriname on 11 February, 2005 under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Siegfried F. Gilds, Minister of Justice and Police of the Republic of Suriname. Representatives from eight Member States participated in the Meeting and Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago were represented at the level of Attorney-General. Participants from the CARICOM and OECS Secretariats and the University of the West Indies also shared in the deliberations of the Meeting.
The Meeting considered a range of issues including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society, Reform of Legal Education in the Caribbean, CARICOM-US negotiations on enforcement of child-support obligations, legal issues relating to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the candidature of Sir Kenneth Keith for the International Court of Justice.
The LAC received a report from the Thirteenth Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (PREPCOM) also met on 11 February, 2005 in Paramaribo, Suriname under the Chairmanship of the Hon. A. J. Nicholson, Attorney-General of Jamaica. Focus was given to a range of issues including the enactment of legislative instruments relating to the CCJ and legal issues affecting the inauguration of the Court. Specific focus was given to the matter of litigation in Jamaica as it related to the decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on the CCJ.
The PREPCOM also cleared the Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the CCJ Relating to the Tenure of Judges, Rules of Court, Financial Arrangements and Withdrawal from the Agreement, for signature by Heads of Government at their Sixteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting.
The Declaration of Compliance with the CARICOM Single Market Programme of Removal of Restrictions to be signed by the Governments of Barbados, Jamaica, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was also finalised. This Instrument signals the accelerated implementation of measures to establish the Single Market and Economy by those Member States. Heads of Government had previously decided at their Fourteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting, to remove the restrictions relating to the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market regime by 31 December 2005.
A report was received from representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Punishment and Violations of Humanitarian Law at the International Level. The Region was urged to sign, enact and implement, as the case may require, relevant international Instruments including the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention. Continued technical assistance was offered by the ICRC to the Region in this regard, particularly as it related to the development of model legislation to enact the above international instruments into domestic law.
A presentation was received from Mr. Christopher Dehring, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, ICC World Cup W.I. 2007 on draft legislation relating to the World Cup to be held in the Region in 2007. The Meeting received a first draft of the ICC World Cup Cricket West Indies 2007 Act. This Act, also referred to as sunset legislation, is necessary to facilitate the efficient and effective hosting of Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 matches and events, as well as to meet requirements set out in the respective Bid Books of Member States. The Act addresses a range of issues including security, customs and immigration matters, ambush marketing, taxation, events management and other operational aspects of the CWC. This Act should be fully operational by no later than 1 November 2006. Arrangements were made to finalise and enact this legislation by 1 June 2005.
The LAC thanked the government and people of the Republic of Suriname for their warm hospitality and for the excellent arrangements put in place for the conduct of the business of its Meeting.
Paramaribo, Suriname
11 February 2005
