Senior Reporter
akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt
Former chief justice and the first president appointed to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Michael de la Bastide TC (Trinity Cross), is remembered as a brilliant legal mind and a true patriot who represented the best of T&T.
Confirmation of his death yesterday came from his nephew, John, who said the 86-year-old had been ailing for some time, with his health drastically declining in recent weeks. He could not give an exact cause for his death at the time.
Paying tribute to de la Bastide, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said in a post to his Facebook page, “The nation has lost a good citizen. One who dedicated his life to making this nation better. It is my hope that as we celebrate his life of accomplishment, other citizens will step into the footprints that he made and that many more good citizens are born every day.”
Meanwhile, Attorney General Reginald Armour said de la Bastide “represents the best of Trinidad and Tobago in very many ways, and the celebration of his life represents a signal occasion for the people of this sovereign republic to reflect on our proud history, our significant achievements to present and the opportunities for the future, defined by the one word: “Excellence”.
In his statement, the Attorney General went beyond merely highlighting de la Bastide’s contributions to making meaningful changes to the administration of justice in this country. Armour suggested how the people of this nation could honour the former CCJ president.
“In acknowledging his indelible contribution to the quality of this Republic’s proud development since its independence, the people of Trinidad and Tobago can now contribute to completing his dream of replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice,” Armour stated.
In 2004, de la Bastide was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on July 27, 2004, and as president of the Caribbean Court of Justice on August 18, 2004.
Justice de la Bastide retired from the Caribbean Court of Justice on August 18, 2011. One year later, in an interview with Guardian Media, de la Bastide called on then-prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to “go the whole hog” and sever ties completely with the Privy Council.
“Nobody suggests the move away from the Privy Council is going to cure the flaws in our criminal or civil justice system. It will give us a final court of our own, so when our legislators make our constitution, our judges will interpret it, not judges 5,000 miles away in a country that doesn’t have a written constitution,” he had said.
“Why are we apparently competent to enact and amend our own Constitution but not competent to interpret it? What does that say about us after 50 years of independence?”
Currently, only four countries access the court in its appellate jurisdiction, these being Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, and Saint Lucia. On May 25, 2022, Independent Senator Anthony Vieira brought a private motion to Parliament titled ‘Recognise the Caribbean Court of Justice as Trinidad and Tobago’s final Court of Appeal’.
However, opposition senator Wade Mark contended that there is too much room for political influence within the CCJ. In a media release published on its website yesterday, CCJ president Justice Adrian Saunders said, “It was an extraordinary honour and privilege to have worked alongside president de la Bastide. His razor-sharp mind, his prodigious knowledge of the law, and his tremendous experience exerted a profound influence on me. I express deepest condolences to his dear wife and family.”
Justice de la Bastide had quite an illustrious career in public life, from the courthouse to the Red House. Born in Port-of-Spain on July 18, 1937, he received his secondary school education at St Mary’s College, where he won an open scholarship that took him to Christ Church College of Oxford University.
It was there that he obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) with First Class Honours in 1959 and Bachelor of Civil Law, also with First Class Honours, in 1960. Between November 1961 and April 1963, de la Bastide was Crown Counsel in the office of the Attorney General of T&T before entering private practice.
In 1975, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel, and in the first Republican Parliament of T&T, he served as an independent senator from 1976 to 1981.
He was also a member of the Hyatali Constitution Commission from 1987 to 1990. Justice de la Bastide was also elected president of the Law Association of T&T for three terms. On May 31, 1995, then-president Noor Hassanali appointed de la Bastide to the position of Chief Justice.
One year later, he received the Trinity Cross, the country’s highest award at the time. As Chief Justice, de la Bastide was credited with ensuring continuous education for judiciary members.
In 1996, he hosted the first dedicated two-day Continuing Education Seminar (CES) for judges of the Supreme Court. That has now become an annual event. At the opening of the law term in 1998, de la Bastide said, “I am anxious to see established in Trinidad and Tobago a Judicial Training institute ... what I have in mind is an institute that will provide training not only for judges but also for magistrates and court staff.”