Hilary Phillips, Q.C., (left), president of the Jamaican Bar Association, confers yesterday with Arlene Harrison Henry, the association's vice-president, at a press conference called to voice the association's opposition to the Government's proposed speedy ratification of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The press conference was at the association's offices, Harbour Street, downtown Kingston. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
THE JAMAICAN Bar Association, Jamaicans for Justice, and the Farquharson Institute of Public Affairs are opposed to the move by Government to ratify the agreement to set up the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
They have vowed to oppose the decision until there is a referendum to allow Jamaicans to vote on the issue.
The Bar Association has asked the Government to desist from using its majority in Parliament to make the decision on the CCJ as there were defects in the agreement that have to be corrected.
CONSTITUTIONAL ACTION
Hilary Phillips, Q.C., president of the Jamaican Bar Association, said yesterday that if the Government proceeded with its current plan, the association may take "constitutional action" by placing the issue before the courts to ensure that the fundamental rights of Jamaicans are not removed.
Approval for the resolution to ratify the Caribbean Court of Justice agreement is scheduled to be sought from the Senate today and from the House of Representatives on Tuesday. This process will further commit Jamaica to put in place legislation to abolish appeals to the United Kingdom-based Privy Council and to establish the CCJ as its final appellate court.
Addressing a news conference yesterday at the Bar Association's, Harbour Street headquarters, downtown Kingston, Ms. Phillips urged the Government to address defects regarding the permanence, judicial independence and expenses of the CCJ and to make the appropriate amendments to the agreement.
She charged that the Government had ignored previous concerns of the association regarding the establishment of the court.
The Bar Association passed resolutions in 1991 and 1998 in support of the establishment, but with certain conditions that had to be addressed before implementation.
The association, in a statement issued jointly with Jamaicans for Justice, the human rights lobby group, and the Farquharson Institute, said the rights of Jamaicans were being eroded.
The groups agreed that "fullest consultation" with Jamaicans was needed before Jamaica signed on to the Caribbean Court of Justice and that Government should not deprive Jamaicans the opportunity of participating in the process.
"We maintain our position that the Jamaican people must be asked whether (they) wish to join in the proposed CCJ," the release said.
The groups agreed that the critical issue of funding was yet to be resolved, and there was not enough public information about the annual cost of the court to Jamaica. Also, they want the terms of the loan proposed as the source of funding for the court, to be made public.
Also to be addressed is the public education programme on the CCJ which was promised in 2001 by A.J. Nicholson, Q.C., Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
NOT MANDATORY
Ms. Phillips explained that the current agreement would create a court that was not permanent as it was not mandatory for the signatories to entrench the CCJ in their respective constitutions. "In effect, any country can, by simple legislation, withdraw from the agreement and the Court."
Member-states may gradually remove the court's jurisdiction and set their own final appellate courts as the agreement facilitates withdrawal by participants by notice, or by reducing the types of cases over which the court will have jurisdiction.
The Bar Association has asked that no further steps be taken to commit Jamaica to the CCJ until the signatories are required by the agreement to entrench the court in their respective constitutions.
Also, concerns were raised over whether the court would be truly independent and impartial and the possible financial burden that could result from it having its headquarters in one country.
"In order for citizens to have trust in a court, there must be permanence in the court," Ms. Phillips stressed. "It must be readily accessible, there must be judicial independence and a certain standard maintained for the administration of justice to be properly served."
