KINGSTON, Jamaica – Chief Justice of Jamaica, Justice Bryan Sykes, has pledged the support of the Jamaican judiciary to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Court Management Services (CMS) in a release today said Sykes voiced his support at a special sitting of the CCJ in St Vincent and the Grenadines last Friday. The sitting concluded inauguration activities for newly appointed President of the Court, Justice Adrian Saunders.

“I speak now for all the judges of Jamaica, we pledge, unreservedly, our support for the president and the court and will do all within our power to continue to make the case for this court to become our final appellate court,” said Sykes.

The chief justice also said he believed that the CCJ brought increased efficiency of the court and increased access to justice for Caribbean nationals. 

Sykes stated that “the Judicial Council of the Privy Council has done well but it is time we do for ourselves what we have the skill and ability to do”.

He described Justice Adrian Saunders as “sturdy of will, mighty of intellect and a calm voice of reason”.

Justice Saunders was appointed the third President of the Caribbean Court of Justice on July 4 and is the first graduate of the University of the West Indies to head the court.