St. Lucia continues process towards joining CCJ

CMC – St. Lucia Tuesday began the political process of replacing the London-based Privy Council as the island’s highest court with government brushing aside calls for a referendum on the issue.

Both Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, who tabled the amendment to the Constitution, and former prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, one of the early architects of the legislation governing the CCJ, insisted that the present Constitution made no provisions for the referendum.

Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet, who had earlier staged a one-man walkout of Parliament as it debated another matter, has already called for a referendum. It is not yet clear whether he will participate in the debate on the CCJ that the government has signaled it intends to take through all the legal stages on Tuesday, making St. Lucia the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to be full members of the Trinidad-based court that was inaugurated in 2005.

Both Pierre and Anthony told legislators that it was an “historic” day for the island.

“It is historic because we the people are showing we have confidence in ourselves…and in the people of the region,” Pierre said as he began the debate watched by former CCJ president Sir Dennis Byron, who was among the guests in the Parliament building.

Pierre praised Anthony for the role he played in ensuring that the island became a member of the CCJ and embarking upon a “journey into manhood….”

He said the journey gained momentum in 2014 when the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, in an advisory opinion, indicated that St. Lucia did not need to hold a referendum before proceeding to join the CCJ, which has both an appellate and original jurisdiction.

St. Lucia and many of the CARICOM countries are signatory to the original jurisdiction, while Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana are full members of the court that also functions as an international tribunal interpreting the Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration movement.

Pierre said that the amendments to the constitution would allow for all appeals to be taken up by the CCJ rather than the Privy Council.

“We did not need a referendum to make the transition…. There is no legal basis for the referendum,” Pierre said, noting that during the last campaign for the general elections, the St. Lucia Labour Party had included joining the CCJ in its manifesto.

Moreover, he said in March 2020, the government signaled its intention when the Governor General read the traditional Throne Speech at the start of a new parliamentary term and his budget presentation in April also made mention of the move towards the CCJ.

Pierre said that in March 2022, his administration wrote to the British government on the issue and received a response in August in which London indicated that “this is a matter for you to progress by the legal and political process”.

He said that in October last year, the government laid a draft bill “in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution” for a 90-day period between the first and second reading. He told legislators that this had been achieved.

“It is clear all the constitutional requirements have been met,” Pierre said.

During his contribution, the Prime Minister outlined the measures taken to ensure the independence of the CCJ and its funding, saying that no prime minister can withdraw funding for the court because of the trust fund established to ensure its financial independence.

“Since St. Lucia is already within the CCJ…we are taking the next logical step which is to make the CCJ the final appellate court, ” he said, noting that over the past 16 years, only 17 cases from St. Lucia have gone to the Privy Council.

“I think today the choice we are making is whether we are capable of making quality independent justice….I refuse to accept that we can’t have a group of seven men or women who after vigorous vetting….make independent judgements.

“I think it is a shame as a people we should be so afraid and have a lack of our ability…to even oppose the CCJ as our final court, ” Pierre said, dismissing “self-serving ” arguments that only four CARICOM countries are full members of the CCJ.

“Going to the CCJ is the right thing to do…. Justice can’t be the preserve of a few. All St. Lucians have a right to justice at the highest level. It is a shame that in 2023, we have people who still believe that colonialism had no conscience…. We are going to ask the House to remove us from the shackles of colonialism,” the Prime Minister declared.

In his two-hour lecture-style presentation, Anthony, who served as CARICOM counsel general when the draft CCJ legislation was being formulated, agreed that the Privy Council was “an instrument of colonialism”.

The former University of the West Indies (UWI) law lecturer described the CCJ as a “fearless institution” not afraid to rule against politicians, adding that “this constitutional amendment is about us”.

He acknowledged that there is “personal significance” to what was occurring in the Parliament.

“Not to blow my trumpet, I am sometimes mystified by how we forget what we have achieved…(and) disappear into the night of history,” Anthony.

The former prime minister said his administration had also sought to move the CCJ issue forward.

He said some CARICOM countries should accept blame for not adequately dealing with some of the issues raised by their populations, pertaining to the benefits of joining the CCJ.

“We did not explain to our people that the court will ensure access…and make a difference to their lives,” he said. “We focused on the lofty ideas of the court, not on the things people are concerned with.”

Despite that, Anthony said the region should feel comfortable in the knowledge that Caribbean jurists have set standards worldwide and were the preferred choice of many African countries when they were establishing their own final courts.

“I don’t know why we doubt ourselves…that we are among the brightest people in the world…. We have to stop this nonsense, we need to understand we are special people in this region,” he asserted.

On the issue of a referendum to be held prior to joining the CCJ, Anthony reiterated that no provisions were made for a referendum and said the government now has the required special parliamentary majority to ensure the passage of the amendments and for St. Lucia to become a full member of the CCJ.

He described the move as “a leap of enlightenment”.

The debate is continuing.