The British High Commission has intervened in the debate over Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's announcement on Wednesday on T&T's accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice. The move means that this country's highest court of appeal in criminal matters will no longer be the London-based Privy Council.
The High Commission issued a statement yesterday which was sent out by e-mail by Matt Nottingham, political officer at the High Commission in Port-of-Spain. The Privy Council, said the statement, "does not lobby or encourage sovereign independent countries to join or leave its jurisdiction.
"It is entirely a matter for the individual country concerned whether it wishes to continue to use the service that the UK's most senior judges provide to countries which use the committee as their final court of appeal."