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Contact:
Virnet St. Omer-Fontenelle
Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - Saint Lucia has been aggressive in its
efforts to meet it’s commitment to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ),
according to Mr. Deale Lee, a representative of the Attorney General’s Office on
the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Task Force.
Pointing out that preliminary work had been completed, Mr. Lee said, “The
Caribbean Court Justice is still on stream it’s just that there has been a
postponement in the official launching, which was supposed to take place in
November of this year. Hopefully, it will take place in the first quarter of
2005”.
Mr. Lee emphasised that in terms of Saint Lucia’s readiness, the basic
preparatory work had been completed, and what needed to be done was to make
amendments to remove the Privy Council, as “our final appellate jurisdiction.”
Saint Lucia, he pointed out was one of the few countries that have actually
passed legislation providing for the CCJ.
The CCJ, a major organ of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy is expected
to make it easier and cheaper for people of the Caribbean to have every tool of
the legal system at their disposal.
Mr. Lee said the Privy Council, which serves as the final court of appeal is a
costly venture and sometimes discourages people from pursuing cases to that
level, noting that with the CCJ residing in the Caribbean, the regions people
would have an option when making a decision about how to proceed with a case,
rather than abandoning an action because of cost.
According to Mr. Lee, benefits from the CCJ will primarily be in terms of cost.
He explained that the Privy Council was often used as a sword against poorer
litigants, who were not able to take their case to the Privy Council, thereby
enabling wealthier litigants to win the appeal by default. “That is a situation,
which will disappear with the CCJ”, he said.
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