CCJ meets with some trepidation
by Norman 'Gus' Thomas
Caribbean Net News Senior Correspondent on assignment in Port of Spain.
E-mail: re@caribbeannetnews.com
Monday, April 18, 2005
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: The coming on
stream of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is being met with a great deal
of trepidation in several sections of the region.
A large number of Caribbean nationals interviewed by Caribbean Net News
have expressed the view that justice will not be fair, while others even
suggested that, given the political culture of some countries, politicians
will greatly influence the outcome in some cases.
One case cited by a former Chief Minister of
Montserrat, was that of the St. Kitts-Nevis based Eastern Caribbean Central
Bank (ECCB) and a Montserrat-based offshore bank owned by a well known
American investor. The offshore bank
reportedly had a name which was extremely close to that of the ECCB, which
caused ECCB officials to express some degree of concern, forcing them to write
to the then Attorney General of Montserrat expressing the view that the
closeness of the names was likely to cause confusion.
The offshore bank when contacted, refused to change the name and is alleged to
have offered a cash payment to the Attorney General (who incidentally is now a
High Court Judge) not to pursue the matter.
However, the offshore bank, along with several others, was eventually put out
of business when the British Government moved to clean-up its dependency's
offshore sector.
"This is why there are concerns about credibility among some of us, as the
region moves into the era of the CCJ," said the former Chief Minister of
Montserrat when speaking with Caribbean Net News.
However, even though the process is being met with great apprehension, fear
and resistance on the part of some in the Caribbean, to St. Lucia's Prime
Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony, the London-based Privy Council remains something
that is distant and inaccessible to the vast majority of ordinary people in
the Caribbean. He expressed the thought that, the Council also has a
philosophical and contextual disconnect with the region and as such, “It is
therefore time to establish a more popular, more accessible and relevant
process." Meanwhile, the concerns expressed
by many on the credibility question have not been overlooked by officials in
the office of the Port of Spain-based CCJ, where officials pointed out that
this happens when people are asked to try something new. Dr. Michael Anthony
Lilla, the Court's Protocol & Information Officer, called it "fear of freedom"
and said that the CCJ is aware of the fears and criticisms but added that the
judges of the court are of the highest caliber and that the people of the
region have nothing to fear. "It's time we have confidence in our own," he
contended.
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