Origins

Valentine’s Day marked the 14th anniversary of the signing of the agreement to establish the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on February 14, 2001. Jamaica and 11 other Caricom countries signed the agreement.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) traces its origins back to the time of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The present constitution of the JCPC, however, is based on the Judicial Committee Act 1833, the JCPC website says.

“In the 1920s, the JCPC was said to be the final court of appeal for more than a quarter of the world, including countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India,” the website says.

“When the British Empire became the Commonwealth of Nations, many countries established their own ‘Supreme Court’ to serve as their final court of appeal. However, some chose to retain their legal links with the United Kingdom and the JCPC,” according to the website.

Jurisdictions

The 12 signatories to the CCJ agreement were: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, according to the CCJ website.

Three Caricom countries have so far made the CCJ their final court of appeal — Barbados, Guyana and Belize. “Other countries can do the same by changing their laws to replace the Privy Council with the CCJ,” the CCJ website states.

The JCPC currently hears appeals from 27 Commonwealth countries and dependencies, according to its website. The independent Caricom states make up nine of these 27 countries and dependent territories. Jamaica, with a population of about 2.8 million, is the largest territory to have the Privy Council as its highest court.

The list of constitutional monarchies within the Commonwealth includes: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Cook Islands and Niue (Associated States of New Zealand), Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu.

Although New Zealand exited the Privy Council in 2003, that decision did not affect the Cook Islands and Niue.

The list of independent republics that use the JCPC includes: the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Kiribati, and Mauritius.

The list of 11 UK overseas territories includes: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, the Pacific territory of the Pitcairn Islands, and the Atlantic islands of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

In addition the JCPC also hears appeals from the sovereign base areas in Cyprus of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

The court also hears civil cases for Brunei, but reports its opinion to the Sultan of Brunei instead of to Queen Elizabeth.

Seat

Although headquartered in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the CCJ is an itinerant or travelling court, allowing it to travel to any of its jurisdictions.

The JCPC is based in London, but, like the CCJ, is willing to travel to any of its jurisdictions.

Selection of judges

According to the CCJ website: “The Caribbean Court of Justice judges were selected from among the top legal professionals in the world.”

Out of six judges, two come from outside of Caricom — one from the UK, David Hayton; and Jacob Wit from the Netherlands Antilles,. One is from Jamaica — Winston Anderson. The other three judges are court president Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron from St Kitts and Nevis, Rolston Nelson from Trinidad and Tobago, and Adrian Saunders of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Over at the JCPC, the Law Lords (now UK Supreme Court Justices) have been the permanent judges since 1876.

In addition, privy counsellors who are (or have been) judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the Inner House of the Court of Session in Scotland, or of the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland and judges of superior courts in certain Commonwealth nations are all eligible to sit on the Judicial Committee, as long as they are under the age of 75, according to the JCPC site.