Dear Editor,
While the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) is seeking a replacement for one of its judges on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), a call has been made by a senior CCJ judge for more funds to be allocated to the regional court.
Justice Rolston Nelson told newsmen that the time has come to re-examine the US$100 million Trust Fund that was established to finance the regional court in 2005 since the money allocated is not generating enough interest in the light of the downturn of the global economic and financial environment.
The fund was established amid concerns that judges of the CCJ would be paid by governments which could exert decisive informal pressure on them to deliver favourable judgments. The CCJ Trust Fund is administered by a Board of Trustees drawn from regional entitites.
This call has raised a red flag in many quarters, since only three countries, Guyana, Barbados and Belize have joined the appellate jurisdiction of the court, and as many as 10 other jurisdictions are still to do so. As a result, the workload of the court is not to capacity. However it should be pointed out that Caricom states are free to move to the CCJ in its original jurisdiction and quite a few are doing so.
Perhaps I should point out that although most of the countries have not joined the appellate jurisdiction they still contribute to the court; as a matter of fact Jamaica’s bill is the most in the light of its population. I may add also that the full complement of the judges is nine, but the powers to be have settled for seven because of the limited workload.
Two judges, Duke Pollard, and Michael de la Bastide, President of the court, have retired and the third, Desiree Bernard is demitting office at the end of next month. Members of the (RJLSC) are now in the process of selecting a suitable person to replace the lone female judge on the panel. It is not known whether or not a woman would be named as Bernard’s successor.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
