Last Wednesday, the People’s National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) welcomed news that both Government and Opposition agree on Jamaica becoming a republic.

The YO then went on to advocate that Jamaica dispenses with the United Kingdom Privy Council and in its place adopts the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the country’s final court of appeal.

That CCJ call by the YO reminds us of the eternal red flag raised by our wise ancestors in the popular saying, “Young bud nuh know storm,” which is to be interpreted that the young who have never experienced a storm does not know its dangers and, by extension, it is the responsibility of the elders to protect them.

For those who do not know, the CCJ has two component parts: one is the Original Jurisdiction which interprets the rules under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) that established the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and acts as a tribunal for any disputes between Caricom states.

The second component is the Appellate Jurisdiction or final court of appeal which Caricom states may or may not sign onto. If they do, then the UK Privy Council is no longer their court of last resort for civil and criminal matters.

The big question that people need to ask is: w hy in 22 years only four Caricom members — namely Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and Guyana — have signed onto the CCJ Appellate Jurisdiction? Note also that although the CCJ headquarters is in Port-of-Spain and Trinidad is a republic, that sister Caricom nation has opted not to join.

We are not surprised in the least.

To a greater or lesser extent, the people of the Caribbean have no confidence that they will get justice when they need it. Witnesses are intimidated at will; court files routinely disappear; evidence is frequently contaminated or compromised; cases are sabotaged by corrupt officers; and there is a never-ending backlog of cases, causing people to take justice into their own hands.

Most treacherous of all is those politicians who intervene to influence outcomes on their own behalf or that of connected parties. This is the great fear where a Caribbean court of appeal is concerned, because the connections run deep from country to country.

The view is that the law lords of the UK Privy Council are far removed from our everyday life and can afford to be dispassionate and as objective as humanly possible in rendering judgement. To lose that would be a fatal error.

This is also critical because the big investors who we try to woo will never consider our region seriously as long as there is the belief or even perception that they may not get justice in any potential dispute.

To be clear, we in this space have no problem with the Original Jurisdiction of the CCJ where attempts at external interference cannot influence outcomes. We are great believers in the talent and creativity of Caribbean people and their ability to forge a viable path to regional development and integration.

It continues to be a matter of great pride for this newspaper that our exposure of the atrocious treatment of Jamaican Ms Shanique Myrie by Barbados immigration in 2013 resulted in justice for her under the RTC.

Indeed, we look forward to the time when our Caribbean population can take solace in our justice system.