The CARICOM Single Market and Economy was significantly advanced as regional Attorneys-General and Ministers of Legal Affairs approved and commended for signature by the Conference of Heads of Government, three Protocols amending the Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community. The Instruments: Protocol IV – Trade Policy; Protocol VI – Transport Policy, and Protocol VII – Disadvantaged Countries, Regions and Sectors, are expected to be signed at the Twentieth Meeting of the Conference to be convened in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in July 1999.
These issues formed part of a wide-ranging agenda of the Fourth Special Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee held in the spice isle of St. George’s, Grenada on 2-4 June 1999 under the distinguished chairmanship of the Hon. Elvin Nimrod, Minister of Legal Affairs, Labour, Local Government, Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs.
The Meeting was also attended by the Hon. Tennyson Wells, M.P., Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of The Bahamas; Hon. David A.C. Simmons, Q.C., M.P., Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs of Barbados; Hon. Anthony Peter La Ronde, M.P., Attorney-General of Dominica; Hon. Lawrence Albert Joseph, Attorney-General of Grenada; Hon. Charles Ramson, S.C., M.P., Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana; Sen. The Hon. Arnold J. Nicholson, Q.C., Attorney-General of Jamaica; Hon. Petrus Compton, Attorney-General of Saint Lucia; Hon. Carl Joseph, Attorney-General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Hon. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, S.C., M.P., Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago, and their advisers. Mr. Lebrecht Hesse, Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda, and Mr. Bocchit Edmond, Deputy Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haiti, headed their respective country delegations.
The Meeting also gave consideration to a number of Instruments relating to the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). In particular, Attorneys-General:
- approved the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice and commended it for signature by the Heads of Government;
- endorsed the Draft Enabling Bill as a model for enactment by Member States of the Community. This Bill will give legal effect to the Caribbean Court of Justice;
- also approved the Judicial Code of Conduct and commended it to the Conference for approval and adoption as the standard of behaviour for Judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice;
- commended to the Conference for endorsement, the Draft Agreement Relating to the Seat of the Court; the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission, and the Draft Regulations of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission;
- approved and commended for signature the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the Court;
- approved the Draft Rules of the Caribbean Court of Justice (Appellate Jurisdiction).
Issues relating to the Regional Justice Protection Programme were also examined by the Legal Affairs Committee which approved the Draft Agreement Establishing the Regional Justice Protection Programme and commended it for signature by Heads of Government. Further technical work will continue on the Draft Justice Protection Bill.
Ministers reviewed and analysed issues relating to the system of legal education and the practice of law in the Community. In that regard, members decided to recommend to the Heads of Government the increase in the quota of students from two to five in respect of each OECS State and Belize. Further consideration was given to the recommendations of the Group of Legal Experts headed by Hon. Telford Georges, eminent Caribbean jurist, which will be further examined by the Council of Legal Education at its Meeting later this year.
The Legal Affairs Committee also considered matters arising from the Second Joint Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Task Force on Drugs and Ministers Responsible for National Security. These related to a Regional Maritime Co-operation Agreement and the Caribbean International Support Tender, a proposed project for training of coast guard personnel within the Region in co-operation with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Attorneys-General expressed grave concern that several Member States were identified in an OECD Tax Harmonisation Report as tax havens deemed to have harmful fiscal regimes and that there was an expressed intention to apply certain economic counter-measures against the countries listed. In that regard, the Legal Affairs Committee recommended the urgent establishment of a regional team to develop a regional strategy to counteract this OECD initiative.
Special presentations on telecommunications issues and the Y2K problem were also received.
CARICOM Secretariat
