BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):
ELEVEN CARIBBEAN countries signed an agreement yesterday to replace the Privy Council in England with a regional Caribbean Court of Justice.
The agreement was signed during the opening of the 12th inter-sessional summit of the CARICOM leaders, at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in Barbados.
The Privy Council, made up of members of the House of Lords in London, "has served the region well over the years," Prime Minister Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia said.
But, he said: "The cycle of independence which began in 1962 ... cannot be considered to be complete until the determination of rights, duties, and interests of Caribbean litigants are pronounced on by a regional court."
The deal would sever a 170-year tie.
Signatories to the agreement were Guyana, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis. Suriname also signed on to use the new Caribbean Court of Justice because it is a member of the Caribbean Community trade bloc, though it is a former Dutch colony that never used the Privy Council.
Members of the community that did not sign included St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, The Bahamas -- because it is not a member of the community's common market and Montserrat, because it is a British territory.
"We will spare no resource to ensure that the Caribbean Court of Justice is celebrated as an icon of Caribbean achievement and an inspiration of what we can do together and achieve," Prime Minister Owen Arthur of Barbados promised.
Before the court gets set up, at least three member nations have to ratify the agreement at their annual summit in July, and governments have to deposit five years of dues in a special trust fund. After that, an independent judicial services commission would be established to appoint judges.
But this won't happen before early 2003, says A.J. Nicholson, Jamaica's attorney-general and a staunch supporter of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Several governments still need to amend their constitutions to abolish the Privy Council and incorporate the proposed court. Others have to both take the issue to referendum and win two-thirds support for the change in their parliaments. This will absorb much of the time between now and 2003, says Nicholson.
Then the court could begin hearing everything from trade disputes to regular criminal and civil cases.
Caribbean leaders have accused the Privy Council -- now the region's highest court -- of hindering local efforts to enforce the death penalty. Island governments believe executions will curb violent crime, much of it tied to drug-trafficking.
Some critics fear such a court will be liable to political pressures and the vagaries of fragile economies. Others say the link to the Privy Council reassures foreign investors that disputes would be heard dispassionately.
Human rights groups fear the new Caribbean Court of Justice will be a "hanging court," though the leaders say it's an issue of sovereignty.
Amnesty International has "expressed our concern about statements made by a number of political leaders in the region, which have appeared to link the Supreme Court with the expedited use of the death penalty," said Olivia Streater, who works in Amnesty's Caribbean section in London.
Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago already have said they would ratify the court, to be based in Trinidad.
