I am an American citizen who was originally admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania in 1978, New York in 1985, and Trinidad in 2004. I have been living and practicing law in Trinidad for more than ten years.
I am appalled by the argument by some to continue using the Privy Council as the final appellate court for T&T that there are many lower decisions overturned by the Privy Council. This implies that the Trinidad bar is less intelligent than their former English colonial masters and need to be supervised by them.
This is an insult to the attorneys in Trinidad. I can state without hesitation that my legal brethren in Trinidad are as qualified as my legal brethren in the United States with superior writing and advocacy skills.
The number of decisions overturned is not a sufficient reason to maintain the Privy Council as the final court of appeal as these same decisions can be reviewed by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) comprised of some of the best attorneys from countries throughout the Caribbean.
There are many reasons to stop using the Privy Council as the final court of appeals and here are some of the reasons why:
1. It is costly for litigants to appeal to the Privy Council because they must pay for an attorney who can practise in that court and pay travel costs in British pounds. This limits the number of people who can appeal as it renders those with limited financial resources, who may mostly likely have the need to appeal, unable to do so.
2. The Privy Council does not want to hear these appeals because it clogs their calendars.
3. Fifty years after the independence it is time to become truly independent and break away from its former colonial masters.
Claudette R Spencer-Nurse, Esq
Trincity