By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterTHE HEARING of the motion challenging the constitutionality of the Bills for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was put off yesterday until today to allow the judges time to acquaint themselves with the written submissions, which were presented to them after court resumed at 10:00 a.m. yesterday.
Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, Justice Horace Marsh and Mrs. Norma McIntosh, after perusing the bundles several times, pointed out to the lawyers that the written submissions were not present.
Court was adjourned to give the lawyers time to present the written submissions to the judges. After they were handed to the court, the Chief Justice said he and the other two judges needed time to acquaint themselves with the written submissions.
When the hearing begins today, Michael Hylton, Q.C., will be making a preliminary point to have the motion thrown out on the ground that the court does not have the power to stop Parliament from debating a Bill. Mr. Hylton will be submitting that the court can only interfere after the Bills are passed because the court cannot say at this stage what will be the reading of the final Bill. He will be asking the court to find that if someone should run to the courts every time a Bill is to be debated then Parliament could not function effectively.
The court is hearing the motions brought by Opposition Leader Edward Seaga, the Jamaican Bar Association, the human rights lobby group Jamaicans for Justice and the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR). Mr. Seaga attended court.
The Farquharson Institute of Public Affairs has also filed a motion challenging the constitutionality of the Bill for the establishment of the CCJ but a date has not yet been set for the hearing.
After the claims were filed in the Supreme Court, the Government announced its decision to postpone the Senate debate on the Bills until the court hears the matter.
Senator A.J. Nicholson, who is also Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, in referring to the claims, said the Government had no intention of consenting to 'any lengthy delays'.
