DE LA BASTIDE
THE FORMAL accession by six countries to the CARICOM Single Market on Monday has activated the trade arbitration role of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
"It's a milestone on the road that we have started out on. As head of one of the institutions that have been created for this (trade) treaty, it's reassuring to see the commitment actually being fulfilled by the heads (of government)," CCJ President de la Bastide told The Gleaner after the inauguration ceremony, which took place at the University of the West Indies, Mona. "It's, in a sense, a very emotional and satisfying occasion and I am very happy to be here.
"We (the CCJ) have now started (sitting). (The caseload) is still small, but I am hoping that it will increase and that in due course we will be getting cases from Jamaica," said Mr. de La Bastide.
He said the small caseload includes a constitutional matter from Barbados, which will be quite a "heavy matter", in addition to two appeals from Guyana. "So it has started to flow; it is still not more than a trickle, but I am sure that it will increase," remarked the jurist.
Last year, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told journalists that one of the first trade-related cases likely to come before the CCJ would be the determination whether Trinidad and Tobago should sell Jamaica liquefied natural gas (LNG) at prices above what obtains in the domestic market of the twin-island republic.
