JAMAICA LABOUR Party (JLP) Leader Bruce Golding said he is concerned about recent statements made on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) by former Attorney-General David Coore.
In a letter written to Prime Minister P.J. Patterson on Wed-nesday, Mr. Golding said Mr. Coore's statements that Caribbean attorney-generals proposed to have the Privy Council review its recent decision on the constitutionality of the CCJ bills were contrary to Mr. Patterson's stated acceptance of the Privy Council's ruling.
"There was no indication in Mr. Coore's statement that Jamaica's attorney-general disassociated himself and the government from this recommended course of action," Mr. Golding stated.
Contacted last night, Attorney-General, A.J. Nicholson, said the proposal by the attorney-generals was independent of what each country is to do to participate in the CCJ.
He added that the attorney-generals based their proposal on what they said was the Privy Council's reviewing of five of its decisions over the past 10 years.
PRIVY COUNCIL
"It's not that you don't accept the Privy Council's decision," Mr. Nicholson told The Gleaner. "The attorney-generals are only seeking to have the matter reviewed if a similar case from the Caribbean arises and goes before the Privy Council."
The local attorney-general added that the proposal " had nothing to do with the bipartisan talks in Jamaica." Meanwhile, the JLP leader expressed more concerns as to whether the Govern-ment intended to support or become a party to the proposed review. He said the Opposition agreed to hold discussions with the Government on the basis that the Government accepted the Privy Council's ruling. Mr. Golding added, however, that those discussions cannot proceed if the Government simultaneously seeks to have the Privy Council's decision reversed, so the CCJ would be established by a simple parliamentary majority.
But the JLP leader said more alarming was Mr. Coore's suggestion that if the effort to have the Privy Council's decision reversed is unsuccessful and consensus could not be reached with the opposition, the government might consider abolishing appeals to the Privy Council.
"The possibility that the government would consider, for even one moment, truncating our judicial system, effectively terminating appeals at the level of our Court of Appeal, is frightening and totally unacceptable to the Opposition," Mr. Golding said.
