ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada:
AFTER MUCH debate and speculation Caribbean Community leaders yesterday unanimously decided that Justice Michael de la Bastide, a former Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, will be the first president of the soon-to-be instituted Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
At a news conference at the end of the 25th regular meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada, the CARICOM chairman, told journalists that the former chief justice would be formally appointed at the end of this month and would oversee the court, which is to be inaugurated in Trinidad and Tobago in November. Mr. de la Bastide, 67, retired in July 2002.
REGION'S HIGHEST APPELLATE COURT
The CCJ, which will have a maximum of nine judges, will replace the United Kingdom's Privy Council as the region's highest appellate court.
CARICOM leaders voted not to make a decision on whether to recognise the Haitian Government, which is led by interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, until after a group of CARICOM Foreign Ministers complete a fact-finding mission there. The team will be made up of the Foreign Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Mr. Mitchell was quick to point out, however, that Haiti was still a member of CARICOM.
A rift developed between Haiti and CARICOM after the controversial ousting of former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004.
LB
