Jamaica Justice Minister pleads with Opposition to vote for CCJ

By Michelle Nurse On Sep 25, 2015

Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding (Photo via Jamaica Observer)

ST JAMES, Jamaica — Justice minister, Senator Mark Golding, is calling for “political consensus between the Government and the Opposition” when the Senate debates the proposed adoption of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica’s final court in October.

The three companion Bills, among other things, seek to entrench the CCJ as Jamaica’s final court. The Bills were debated and passed earlier this year in the House of Representatives where the Government enjoys the two-thirds majority needed to have them passed. The Opposition voted against all three Bills.

“There are many compelling reasons, more than 50 years after our independence, these three Bills should be passed by our Parliament with the required majorities…we have no reason to be bashful in making a strident call for the adoption of the CCJ as our highest court. To the contrary, we do so with a sense of pride and urgency,” the minister insisted, while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 4th Biennial Conference of the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers.[su_box title=”The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)” style=”soft” box_color=”#54c0f0″]The CCJ was inaugurated on 16 April, 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago where it is headquartered. Its central role is providing legal certainty to the operations of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). It is structured to have two jurisdictions – an original and an appellate. In its original jurisdiction it ensures uniform interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, thereby underpinning and advancing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. As the final court of appeal for Member States of the Caribbean Community it fosters the development of an indigenous Caribbean jurisprudence[/su_box]