Press release 131/2005
(15 June 2005 )

Mr. Chairman
President of the CCJ, The Rt. Hon. Mr. Justice Michael de la Bastide;
Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney General, and Minister of Home Affairs, Barbados, The Hon. Mia Mottley;
Honorable Attorneys-General and Ministers of Justice of the Member States of the Caribbean Community;
Specially Invited Guests,
Members of Staff of the Caribbean Community Secretariat,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.

Permit me, first of all, to welcome you to this very important Eleventh Special Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC).

Like the broader Community, we in the Secretariat are in a transitional mode: We too are moving up. I fully expect that on your next visit you will be welcomed in the more spacious and salubrious surroundings of our new Headquarters Building at Liliendaal, a stone’s throw from the heart of Georgetown. On that occasion, I am confident that you’ll be able to sample the spanking new conference center now being constructed adjacent to the new Headquarters’ Building.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Community has been making tangible and significant progress towards achieving the objective of a deeper regional integration arrangement. And in this, the Legal Affairs Committee deserves high commendation for its contribution to that progress.

As you are aware, the LAC is the Body established under Article 19 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, consisting of the Ministers responsible for Legal Affairs or Attorneys-General of the Member States, to “… be responsible for providing the Organs and Bodies, either on request or on its own initiative, with advice on treaties, international legal issues, the harmonisation of laws of the Community and other legal matters.”

Since the Grand Anse Declaration of 1989, and more particularly since the revision of the Treaty in 2001, the Community has been moving inexorably towards an enhanced rules-based system and this has placed a greater onus on the rule of law and the role of the LAC in providing legal advice to the Organs and Bodies of the Community.

I am very pleased to say that the evidence suggests that the onus placed by the Revised Treaty upon the LAC is being honorably discharged. As you are no doubt aware, 2005 is The Year of the Single Market and the obligation on Member States to establish a visible and functioning CARICOM Single Market (CSM) by the end of 2005 has been given tremendous assistance by this Body. Not only in terms of the advice given from time to time to the Community, but more critically, Attorneys-General are at the forefront of the national efforts to ensure compliance with the Programme for the Removal of Restrictions and to ensure that their countries are CSME compliant.

I am very pleased that three of the Member States represented here today, namely, Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago have already satisfied the requirements and are therefore CSME compliant. The other Member States are firmly on course to fulfill their obligations by the specified deadline of December 2005.

It is worthwhile remembering that the burden is on Member States to identify and remove by the end of December 2005, all restrictions that would inhibit the enjoyment of Chapter 3 Rights as from 1 January 2006. By virtue of the decision of Conference in 2002, unauthorised restrictions that are found to exist after this date will be deemed illegal and subject to immediate removal.

The Legal Affairs Committee has also played a seminal role in negotiating the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice; in the establishing and functioning of the Court Institutions such as the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) and the Trust Fund, and of course, in the inaugurating of the Court itself on April 16, 2005. In this regard, I want to pay special tribute to the Attorneys-General of Barbados and Jamaica, who made sterling contributions in the positions of Chair and Deputy Chair, respectively, of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of CCJ.

I am sure that you can all appreciate, even at this early stage of the Court’s existence, that in the Court, you have made a historic contribution to the development of our Community. Further, I must commend Barbados and Guyana for being able at this stage to take the bold step of subscribing to the appellate jurisdiction of the Court. I understand that papers are likely to be filed in Barbados within the next week or two paving the way for the first appeal to the CCJ. Needless, to say the entire Region awaits this momentous event with baited breath.

I would like to take this opportunity to request that all Attorneys-General do whatever lies within their power, in the context of their national situation, to enable their countries to be able to subscribe to the appellate jurisdiction of the Court and thereby assist the transition of the Community towards its full independence.

Chairman, there are many other areas in which progress has recently been made and in respect of which the LAC can feel justly proud, not least of all the growing acceptance of the CARICOM Passport with all the important symbolism that that represents. However, despite these successes, there are a number of challenges that continue to face the Community in the area of Legal Affairs. Your work is far from done!

Heads of Government have agreed that the adoption of “sunset legislation” is of critical importance to the hosting of World Cup Cricket in the West Indies in 2007. CWC 2007 Inc considers this legislation as the engine of any progress that is to be made towards preparing for the 2007 games, particularly as regards protection of the brands and trademarks for the tournament. The legislation will also deal with other issues regarding ease of movement between participating countries, relaxing of rules in relation to customs duties where possible, and, of course, security.

I commend all those who have been instrumental in completing the draft legislation, particularly the Chief Parliamentary Counsels. But now the ball is in the court of the Attorneys-General. I hope that this meeting of the LAC will be able to consider and approve the requisite draft legislation - with whatever modifications you consider necessary - bearing in mind the need for enactment in all participating Member States by the end of this year. Without early approval, the Community’s hosting of the World Cup Cricket tournament could well be endangered.

Mr. Chairman, in the area of the Reform of Legal Education, recent events have brought home the urgent need to revisit arrangements made over thirty-years ago for the organisation and delivery of legal education to our citizens. The world has completely changed since the 1970s and some of the accepted orthodoxies must be reconsidered. The continued acceptance of quotas at the UWI Faculty of Law, and by extension the Hugh Wooding and Norman Manley Law Schools, for example, must be reviewed in light of the prevalence of liberalisation, and in light of the requirements that the CSME and our interactions with the global community make of us.

There is no reason why we should not be thinking in terms of education in legal competences for export to the world community. At the same time we must be sensitive to the challenges posed by foreign purveyors of legal education that will no doubt fill any vacuum that our Regional system leaves unsatisfied. I am pleased to see the Chairman of the Council for Legal Education and the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies here with us; I am sure that your contributions on this matter will be extremely valuable.

Mr. Chairman, the Community relies heavily upon the legal advice of the LAC in relation to a host of matters touching and concerning institutional governance. For example, we currently are seeking your direction on the issuance of the laissez-passer to a number of entities in the Caribbean. We await your deliberate consideration. Similarly, we have sought your guidance in relation to proposals to reform the Community Council of Ministers in order to achieve the more effective functioning of that Organ. And in the relatively near future, I hope to present for your deliberation, a draft instrument that would clarify and strengthen the arrangements for governance between the Community and its Institutions, Associate Institutions and Observers.

Beyond establishment and implementation of the CSME and related activities, the LAC has an important role to play in regard to matters related to justice, security and promotion of democracy. We have all been shocked by the exponentially increasing incidents of crime and violence in our Community. The spiraling occurrences of murder, kidnappings, and other violent crime are debilitating to our citizens and have the potential to destabilise any gains we make on the economic front.

Something has to be done both at the national level and at the Regional level in addressing this menace. The LAC has a clear responsibility, in conjunction with the Ministers of National Security, to devise appropriate Regional strategies for dealing with the scourge of crime and violence and I urge that urgent attention be given to this matter. Hon. Attorneys-General, as a first step, I urge that you give urgent consideration to the conclusion of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that will facilitate cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies of our Member States. I also recommend that significant progress be made on the further development of the Regional Justice Protection Programme, particularly as regards the protection of witnesses under a Regional arrangement.

I am pleased that there will be the beginning of a discussion of the steps necessary to develop a Caribbean Human Rights Treaty, which would go beyond the broad normative standards embodied in the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society. Even as we take robust action to defend our societies from criminal elements, the World must be assured that we remain committed to the fundamental ideals of human rights and freedoms as outlined, for example, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, in closing, permit me to wish you very fruitful deliberations. It would be remiss of me however, not to hope that you will find some time out of your very busy schedule to enjoy some of the lot Guyana has to offer.

I thank you.