MOST JAMAICANS support the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), but a clear majority think the Government should hold a referendum to determine whether the country should participate in the controversial court.
This is a finding of a poll done by Don Anderson for the Gleaner Company Ltd. Fieldwork for the poll was conducted from May 9 to 19 and involved interviews with 1,000 persons - 18 years and over. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 per cent.
According to the poll, 51.6 per cent support the establishment of the court while 45.5 per cent are opposed to it. Support for the CCJ comes primarily from males, young persons, persons in upper income groups and rural folk.
Strongest opposition to the move comes from persons in the age groups 25-34 and 35-44. Opposition also comes from persons living in Kingston and other main towns throughout the island.
At the same time, 63.4 per cent of those interviewed are in favour of a referendum on the court while 34.5 per cent are opposed to it.
STRONGEST SUPPORT
"Strongest support for this referendum comes from the young voters 18-24 and from persons in the lower socio-economic groups," said Anderson in his analysis.
Parliament recently gave the Government the green light to ratify the agreement setting up the CCJ.
Speaking in the House of Representatives last week, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson again rejected calls for a referendum to determine whether to replace the UK-based Privy Council with
the CCJ, as Jamaica's final court of appeal. Stating that the 1962 Constitution requires only a simple majority vote to abolish the Privy Council, Mr. Patterson insisted that he had no intention of going beyond that requirement.
"We are not going to change something that can be done by a simple majority in Parliament into what is equivalent to an entrenched provision that was never intended by the founding fathers," the Prime Minister said.
The opposition Jamaica Labour Party and other groups have, however, rejected that Government's stance, arguing that the people ought to be consulted in a referendum before they are locked into the CCJ.
Most persons interviewed for the Anderson poll said they were aware of the Government's plan to support the establishment of the CCJ.
About 60 per cent said they were aware of the move while 38.4 per cent said they were not. Awareness was highest among persons in the upper socio-economic groups, 89 per cent of whom, knew about the plan. Awareness was, however, lowest among the poorer sections of the society. Older persons were also more aware of the plan than young persons.
