THE EDITOR, Sir:THE GLEANER of Monday March 7, 2005 states, among other things, that Mr. Delroy Chuck, opposition spokesman on justice, has written to Justice Minister A.J. Nicholson, outlining concerns with the new Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) legislation tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
According to Mr. Chuck, the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is concerned with Clause 10, as well as other sections of the CCJ (Original Jurisdiction) Bill, which states that: "A judge of the court may exercise all of the powers and functions of a judge of the Supreme Court as respects the area within its jurisdiction"; and that this would 'fly in the face' of the recent ruling of the United Kingdom-based Privy Council of the CCJ which states that the CCJ could not be established as the nation's final appellate court, superior to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, without being entrenched in the Constitution.
"It is, therefore, incumbent on the government to withdraw those sections," Mr Chuck said.
I think Mr. Chuck is entirely wrong, because the bill does not seek to create a court superior to and binding upon our Court of Appeal or any court in Jamaica for that matter. Even Resident Magistrates as judges of the inferior courts (Resident Magistrate's Courts) exercise statutory powers similar to those of judges of superior courts, for example: The Judicature (Resident Magistrates) Act sections 105 and 106, which act predates the Constitution and has not been repealed by it.
Section 106 (referring to section 105) says:"In all such suits or matters the Magistrate shall, in addition to the other powers and authorities which shall be possessed by him under this act, have, for the purposes of the jurisdiction hereby conferred, all the powers and authorities of a Judge of the Supreme Court...."
Come on Mr. Chuck, take off your political hat and put on your lawyer hat. You do very well almost invariably when you wear the latter.
I am, etc.,
OWEN S. CROSBIE
oss@cwjamaica.com
Mandeville
