Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) president Sir Dennis Byron says T&T's impending accession to the CCJ would assist in "completing the circle of independence." Byron, who is attending a meeting of the Commonwealth Judicial Educators Institute in the Seychelles, made the statement in a press release issued by the CCJ yesterday.
"The CCJ stands ready to serve its host nation even further in the capacity of the court of last resort for the citizens of T&T," he said in response to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's announcement in Parliament on Wednesday that government will abolish criminal appeals to the London-based Privy Council.
During a media briefing at the CCJ's Henry Street, Port-of-Spain headquarters on April 10, Byron had been quoted as saying that T&T was bound by international law to make the CCJ its final court of appeal. He noted that T&T was already part of the court's original jurisdiction for interpretation and application of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas-which sought to establish the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Of the 12 Caricom nations that signed the agreement establishing the court in 2001, only three have made it their final appellate court-Barbados, Guyana and, most recently, Belize. The court was inaugurated in 2005. "The court will continue to discharge its responsibilities as a final court of appeal in such a manner as to engage public trust and confidence and to satisfy the mandate which it has been entrusted," Byron said.