St Lucia continues political process towards joining CCJ

CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – St Lucia Tuesday began the political process of replacing the London-based Privy Council as the island's highest court with government brushing aside calls for a referendum on the issue.

Both Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, who tabled the amendment to the Constitution, and former prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, one of the early architects of the legislation governing the CCJ, insisted that the present Constitution made no provisions for the referendum.

Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet, who had earlier staged a one-man walk out of Parliament as it debated another matter, has already called for a referendum. It is not yet clear whether he will participate in the debate on the CCJ that the government has signalled it intends to take through all the legal stages on Tuesday, making St Lucia the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to be full members of the Trinidad-based court that was inaugurated in 2005.

Both Pierre and Anthony told legislators that it was an “historic” day for the island.

“It is historic because we the people are showing we have confidence in ourselves…and in the people of the region,” Pierre said as he began the debate watched by former CCJ president Sir Dennis Byron, who was among the guests in the Parliament building.

Pierre praised Anthony for the role he played in ensuring that the island became a member of the CCJ and embarking upon a “journey into manhood….”

He said the journey gained momentum in 2014 when the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, in an advisory opinion, indicated that St Lucia did not need to hold a referendum before proceeding to join the CCJ, which has both an appellate and original jurisdiction.

St Lucia and many of the CARICOM countries are signatory to the original jurisdiction, while Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana are full members of the court that also functions as an international tribunal interpreting the Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration movement.

Pierre said that the amendments to the constitution would allow for all appeals to be taken up by the CCJ rather than the Privy Council.

“We did not need a referendum to make the transition…. There is no legal basis for the referendum,” Pierre said, noting that during the last campaign for the general elections, the St Lucia Labour Party had included joining the CCJ in its manifesto.

Moreover, he said in March 2020, the government signalled its intention when the Governor General read the traditional Throne Speech at the start of a new parliamentary term and his budget presentation in April also made mention of the move towards the CCJ.

Pierre said that in March 2022, his administration wrote to the British government on the issue and received a response in August in which London indicated that “this is a matter for you to progress by the legal and political process”.

He said that in October last year, the government laid a draft bill “in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution” for a 90-day period between the first and second reading. He told legislators that this had been achieved.

“It is clear all the constitutional requirements have been met,” Pierre said.

During his contribution, the Prime Minister outlined the measures taken to ensure the independence of the CCJ and its funding, saying that no prime minister can withdraw funding for the court because of the trust fund established to ensure its financial independence.

“Since St Lucia is already within the CCJ…we are taking the next logical step which is to make the CCJ the final appellate court, ” he said, noting that over the past 16 years, only 17 cases from St Lucia have gone to the Privy Council.

The debate is continuing.

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