Privy Council judge supports the Caribbean Court of Justice

QC Karl Hudson-Phillip, left, and attorney Indal Harracksingh, 
centre, chat with Lord Leonard Hoffmann at the annual Law 
Association dinner at the Hilton, Trinidad.
Photo: STEPHEN DOOBAY, Trinidad Express

Monday, October 13, 2003

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad: A judge in the Privy Council of London is in favor of the establishment of a final Court of Appeal in the Caribbean.

The Trinidad Express yesterday quoted Lord Leonard Hoffmann, a judge in the Privy Council, as telling lawyers at the annual Law Association dinner at the Hilton, Trinidad over the weekend, "A court of your own is necessary if you are going to have the full benefit of what a final court can do to transform society in partnership with the other two branches of government."

Lord Hoffman added, "It is an extraordinary fact that for nearly nine years I have been a member of the final court of appeal for the independent Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, a confident democracy with its own culture and national values, and this is the first time that I have set foot upon the islands."

He also admitted that although the Privy Council had done its best to serve the Caribbean and had done much to improve the administration of justice, the court's remoteness from the community had been a handicap.

"We have been necessarily cautious in doing anything which might be seen as inappropriate in local conditions and although this caution might have occasionally saved us from doing the wrong thing, I am sure it has also sometimes inhibited us from doing the right thing," the paper quoted him as saying.

Using examples, he said if the question arose as to whether the resources devoted by a Caribbean state to legal aid were sufficient to satisfy the minimum requirement of a fair trial or whether all the resources devoted to prisons were sufficient to maintain civilised standards, it would be very difficult for the Privy Council in London to express a view. 

"They would have no knowledge of the consequences of their decision one way or the other. It is only a local court which would have the necessary knowledge and legitimacy to say whether the Constitution required more to be done," he said. 

Lord Hoffmann said he did not underestimate the difficulty of creating a final court for the various Caribbean communities but, he noted, "I think that States which have so much in common in their history and values, which can even play cricket together, should be able to do so." 

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