CCJ referendum not practical – A.J. Nicholson

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. A.J. Nicholson, has reiterated the Government’s position that it is not practical to have a referendum on the matter of Jamaica’s accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Let us tear down this referendum wall. It does not prove to be good sense in history, it is not good sense in logic, it is not practical,” he said while making his contribution to the debate on the three Bills to establish the CCJ as Jamaica’s final appellate body in the Senate on November 20.

It is the intention of the Government to separate Jamaica from the Judicial Committee of the United Kingdom (UK) Privy Council, and to become part of the CCJ in its Appellate Jurisdiction.[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]

Read more at: Jamaica Information Service