Letter of the Day | Jamaica can’t be truly independent till it leaves Privy Council

THE EDITOR, Madam:

On August 6, Jamaicans will be celebrating Independence Day. It saddens me to think that after 63 years Jamaica is still only partially independent. There can be no true independence until we abolish the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from our national architecture.

This Committee that still has the final word on matters of justice in Jamaica was set up primarily to advise the monarch of the day as to what to do in respect of matters referred to the monarch.

For a litigant in Jamaica to go to the seat of this Committee in London, England, there is the need for a visa which is not automatically granted, and which comes at great financial cost. There is no return of the fee paid if the application for a visa is refused.

Although former colonies Australia, Canada and New Zealand have long ago abolished the Privy Council from their countries, they do not need a visa to travel to the United Kingdom. We do not seem to regard this as a significant point that should cause us at least a reasoning moment.

For 20 years the Caribbean has had in existence a Court of its own creation. By all reasonable standards, this Court has performed well. Jamaica contributed to the establishment of the Court. There are two Jamaicans on the panel of Judges. One of these is now the President of the Court. However, it has been baffling to me and even to some of the Judges of the Privy Council itself that Jamaica has stubbornly refused to take advantage of the services of the appellate jurisdiction of the Court. Instead, Jamaican litigants including the Government have had to be finding expensive pounds sterling to fund appeals to the Privy Council.

It is ironical that some of those who oppose the abolition of the Privy Council are lawyers who have been educated and trained at the law schools of the Caribbean.

To my mind, Jamaica’s failure to accede to the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice indicates a lack of appreciation of what nationhood means. The Caribbean Court of Justice is an institution that has been built by the people of the Caribbean. Jamaica needs to be part of this in the fullest sense. At this stage of our history, even just from the point of view of pride, we shouldn’t be still relying on a Court set up by our colonizers. Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana and Saint Lucia have shown the way – a way that Jamaica should have led.

I trust that over the next few days, instead of merely jumping and prancing saying that we are celebrating independence, Jamaicans will give some thought to the urgent need to be rid of the Privy Council and be truly independent. That is a priority that I have been pushing for more than 30 years.

JUSTICE SEYMOUR PANTON