THE FAILURE of applicants from Jamaica to be included in any of the seven selections to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has been deemed immaterial by Dr. Lloyd Barnett, constitutional lawyer and member of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC).
The RJLSC was responsible for six selections last week which, Dr. Barnett said, were made after sifting through 80 applications, including approximately eight from Jamaican hopefuls. The judges will be appointed at a later date.
Dr. Barnett's comments come against the background of public disappointment about the absence of Jamaicans among those selected to serve on the regional appellate court.
"The fact that there are no Jamaicans in the court is irrelevant," Dr. Barnett told The Gleaner yesterday, while assuring that it was not an indication of a lack of confidence in the quality of Jamaican judges.
"The Commission had to consider the candidates who presented themselves and the expected needs of a court of that nature. It does not mean that a person who was not appointed does not qualify," he said.
The RJLSC announced on Friday that it has selected the six judges slated to join CCJ President Mr. Justice Michael de la Bastide, of Trinidad, when the court comes into effect. The appointments will take place over a six month period, between January and July of next year, and the court is scheduled to be launched during the first quarter of 2005.
Among the judges selected are the: Honourable Madam Justice Desiree Bernard and Mr. Duke E.E. Pollard, both from Guyana, as well as Professor David Hayton (United Kingdom), Mr. Justice Rolston Nelson (Trinidad and Tobago), Mr. Justice Adrian Saunders (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and Mr. Justice Jacob Wit (Netherlands Antilles).
CCJ Selectee Profiles (taken from the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission)
The Honourable Madam Justice Desiree Bernard, O.R., C.C.H., LLB. (Guyana) Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana. A graduate of London University, Madam Justice Bernard carried on a successful law practice in Guyana before being appointed a High Court Judge in 1980. She subsequently served successively as a Judge of the Court of Appeal and as Chief Justice of Guyana. She was appointed Chancellor in 2001.
Professor David Hayton M.A., LLB, LLD, (United Kingdom) has had a distinguished career as an academic lawyer in England. He has been Professor of Law at King's College, University of London, since l987, and before that was for 14 years a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge University. Professor Hayton is arguably the leading authority in the U.K. and Europe on the law of trusts and has written or co-authored eight books in the areas of trusts, property, succession and tax, including the standard practitioner's text, Underhill and Hayton, Law of Trusts and Trustees, now in its 16th edition. Professor Hayton served as an acting Judge of the High Court of The Bahamas for two spells in 2000 and 2001, and his work on the bench there was well appreciated.
Mr. Justice Rolston Nelson B.A., LL.M. S.C. (Trinidad and Tobago) is a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago, having been appointed to that office directly from the private Bar in 1999. He is the first person to have been appointed a Justice of Appeal in that country without having first served as a Judge of the High Court. Justice Nelson practised as an advocate in the local courts for 24 years. He holds the degrees of BA from the University of Oxford and LLM from the University of London. He has taught at both the Law School and the University of the West Indies. He also has had an exposure to the world of commerce, having served inter alia as a Director and Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation and aa director of Republic Bank Limited.
Mr. Duke E.E. Pollard B.A., LL.M. (Guyana) Director, CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility His area of expertise is International Law. He holds the degrees of BA from the University College of the West Indies, LLB from London University, LLM from McGill University and LLM from New York University. Mr. Pollard has written extensively on various aspects of international law and has participated in the drafting of many important CARICOM instruments including the original and revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and many of the agreements and protocols that pertain specifically to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Mr. Justice Adrian Saunders LL.B. (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) Acting Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court After spending some 19 years in private practice as an attorney, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of the Eastern Caribbean States in 1996 and was made a Justice of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ('the ECSC') in May 2003. Mr. Justice Saunders is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and the Hugh Wooding Law School. He is the Chairman of the Judicial Education Institute of the ECSC and a faculty member of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute. He has been acting as Chief Justice of the ECSC since the 1st July, 2004.
Mr. Justice Jacob Wit LL.M. (Netherlands Antilles) is a Dutch national who has since 1986 been a Judge of the Joint Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, resident in Curacao. Justice Wit holds the degree of Master of Laws from the Free University of Amsterdam and in accordance with the practice in many civil law countries, after obtaining his Masters, he underwent a six-year course of training for the Judiciary. Some of the assignments given to Justice Wit in recent times have brought him into close contact with Judges of the English-speaking Caribbean. These include the joint organisation of judicial workshops and the taking of evidence abroad for use in his own jurisdiction. Justice Wit's knowledge of the civil law will be an important resource for the CCJ as some Member States of CARICOM (like St. Lucia) incorporate elements of civil law in what are otherwise a common law system, while others (like Suriname) are exclusively civil law.
