CCJ holds annual International Law Moot

“It is the Court’s particular concern for this especial aspect of its operations that has caused it to focus the Annual International Law Moot on its Original Jurisdiction.
The CCJ is the Keeper of the Seal of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. A thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by the Caribbean legal fraternity in a sine qua non of the development and strengthening of the CSME. This annual moot provides young attorneys-at-law with a sterling opportunity to comprehend the ramifications and wherewithal of the RTC and paves the way for the widening of its scope and development.
The responsibilities of the CCJ with regard to the CSME are enormous.

President of the CCJ Sir Denis Byron at the Opening of the 9th Annual CCJ International Law Moot at the CCJ Headquarters, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Friday.

Read full speech:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,

The bad news first. I am not in a position to announce, as I did two

years ago, the accession of another Caribbean Community state to the

Appellate Jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The number of

CARICOM states having relinquished the Judicial Committee of the Privy

Council in favour of acceding to the Appellate Jurisdiction of the CCJ remains

at four: Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana.

Since last year’s 8th Annual CCJ International Law Moot, on 24

November 2016, Grenada held a constitutional referendum. One of the

amendments proposed at that plebiscite was the replacement of the Privy

Council by the CCJ. The final tally on that matter was 9,639 votes or 43.27%

for as against 12,635 votes or 56.73% against. The naysayers interpreted this

to be yet another rebuff to the CCJ, more “evidence” of the Court’s unfitness

to replace the Privy Council.

We in the Court do not quite see it that way. We interpret this as an

incitement to work harder to make the Court more attractive to the

Caribbean polity. We appreciate that there is a quantum of both

misinformation and disinformation abroad about the Court. We understand

that the most effective way to neutralise that is through continued good

performance and ensuring that the news gets out about it. We understand

that only by demonstrating what we are worth in a manner that is visible to

the public – that we will woo a majority of support to our side.

This is where I come to the good news. Your presence here this

morning, eight of the eligible ten CARICOM institutions, is tremendously

heartening and a great source of encouragement for the Court. You are the

testimony that there are still great things to come for the Caribbean Court of

Justice, and by extension, the entire Caribbean region, of course. It is

therefore my pleasure to welcome participating teams:

• Eugene Dupuch Law School (The Bahamas);
• Hugh Wooding Law School (Trinidad & Tobago);
• Norman Manley Law School (Jamaica);
• Department of Law of the University of Guyana;
• Faculty of Law of the University of Technology (Jamaica);
• Faculties of Law of the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill,

Mona and St Augustine.

Welcome to you all.

On behalf of the Bench, management and support personnel of the Court, I

formally welcome you all to the CCJ and to our 9th Annual CCJ International

Law Moot Court.

I have dubbed your presence here as good news. Let me explain why.

Since I assumed office as President of the CCJ, I have judged that one of the

high points of my tenure here has been the annual moot. It gladdens my

heart to observe the enthusiasm, the maturity and the rigour with which our

young law students have tackled the moot briefs. The good news is that

however chancy the present circumstances of the CCJ may seem, the sheer

energy and endeavour you invest into this annual exercise virtually

guarantees brighter days ahead for the Court.

It is my conviction that that is exactly what is furnished by your teams

participating so wholly and positively in the annual moot. By dint of that

very participation, through the verve and energy that characterise your

youthful yet learned approach, you endow the Court with promise. It is one

thing for the President of the CCJ to say he is confident in the promise of the

Court. To be frank, I am bound to say so. There is no such obligation upon

you. It is for that reason that the Court so highly values your investment in

its moot. And I mean that to cover the full spectrum that “investment” can

cover: time, effort, sweat, and costs.

The learned and distinguished Trinidadian attorney-at-law, Gregory

Delzin, in his paper “The Impact and Possibilities of the Caribbean Court of

Justice with Special Reference to the Student Attorney-at-Law”, presented on

CCJ Day at the Hugh Wooding Law School, on 17 November 2007, opined that

“the challenge of the CCJ is rooted […] in its capacity to assure a leadership

role in the development of jurisprudence based on the timely delivery of

meaningful and relevant decisions that impact on the lives of the Caribbean

people. The CCJ must make a difference or at the very least, be perceived to

make a difference.”

Effectively, what your presence here, your commitment to this annual

exercise, the stress through which you voluntarily put yourself, does, is to

attest to the fact that the CCJ, in your minds is making a difference now, and

is poised to make an even greater difference as the validation afforded it by

young attorneys-at-law increases the Court’s capacity, as Delzin advocates, to

assure a leadership role in the development of an intrinsically Caribbean

jurisprudence.

It is the Court’s particular concern for this especial aspect of its

operations that has caused it to focus the Annual International Law Moot on

its Original Jurisdiction. The CCJ is the Keeper of the Seal of the CARICOM

Single Market and Economy. A thorough and comprehensive knowledge of

the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by the Caribbean legal fraternity is a sine

qua non of the development and strengthening of the CSME. This annual

moot provides young attorneys-at-law with a sterling opportunity to

comprehend the ramifications and wherewithal of the RTC and paves the

way for the widening of its scope and development.

The responsibilities of the CCJ with regard to the CSME are enormous.

Mr Justice Duke Pollard, then Director of the Caricom Legislative Drafting

Facility, wrote in 2000:

The rights and obligations created by the CSME are so important and

extensive, relating to the establishment of economic enterprises, the provision

of professional services, the movement of capital, the acquisition of land for

the operation of businesses, that there is a clear need to have a permanent,

central, regional institution to authoritatively and definitively pronounce on

those rights and corresponding obligations.

That institution is the Caribbean Court of Justice. The good news is that

your delving into the inner workings of the RTC and thrashing out an Original

Jurisdiction matter before this very CCJ does more than provide you with a

opportunity to hone your adversarial skills. Through the very process of your

investment and your praxis, the Court itself is imbued with a greater

strengthening of its ethos, of its armour, of its structure and is better fortified

assuring that leadership role to which Gregory Delzin refers. The good news

is, that in fact, your presence here today in such numbers – fully 8 out of 10

qualifying institutions – is already an important attestation of your

acknowledgement of the leadership role the CCJ is playing.

The Court would like you to take away from this experience any

number of positive, uplifting sentiments: good networking; appearing before

judges of international repute; showing off your advocacy and oratorical

skills. All of that has its own intrinsic value. There is, however, a further

notion that I wish to commend to you: that by dint of your involvement in

this exercise, you validate the Caribbean Court of Justice in its role in the van

of the development of Caribbean jurisprudence. You lift us up. You

demonstrate that the Caribbean region is no less creative, no less

responsible, no less talented than any other. You make us all proud – that

fact I commend to your hearts.

It is my pleasure to declare open the 9th Annual Caribbean Court of

Justice International Law Moot Court for 2017.

May the best team win.