You have to admire the tenacity and passion of the redoubtable lawyer and Queen’s Counsel (QC) Valerie Neita Robertson. A skilled advocate, she has recently been speaking and writing about the need for our final appellate jurisdiction to continue to reside in the United Kingdom. This conviction was spurred on by a recent case she had before the law lords in which her client prevailed. She seems to believe that justice would hardly have been served if the matter had not gone before this eminent council.

The QC is right in saying that when a Jamaican seeks justice it is not about political notoriety, but the delivery of justice regardless of who they are. She is also right that justice is not about colour, race, class, or gender. It is universal and not territorial, although she would admit that the territorial cannot be ignored with respect to the cultural necessities which often impinge upon the law in a given jurisdiction.

This year we are celebrating 60 years of our Independence from mother Britain and we are still quibbling about whether we should repatriate our judicial sovereignty or have it remain in the bosom of an absentee mom. For me, this is about self-respect and the collective self-esteem which should be at the centre of a country’s pride and longings to be great. It is about recognising the powers within ourselves that can drive us to be a better people.

One cannot deny the tribal political realities in Jamaica and the extent to which they invade every nook and cranny of national life. But I get the impression that too often we subsume too much of our collective self-esteem under the rubric of politics. Too often we delay the promulgation and implementation of important projects because of a fear that they will be tainted by politics or otherwise manipulated to nefarious ends. How much longer must we wait to recognise that we have within ourselves the power to forge our own way, irrespective of the ever-present threat of political manipulation. How much longer must we postpone important decisions because of the belief that we will run into a political cul-de-sac?

It has been clear that the judiciary is still one of those areas which has been fairly free from political interference and manipulation. Despite the constraint under which they work, our judges, by and large, have conducted themselves with probity and we do not have a crisis of them dispensing justice based on political considerations. If the eminent counsel can indicate any evidence contrary to this observation it would be welcomed. But, even if she can, can we reasonably say that we are faced with a crisis of such interventions?

In fact, it has been well established over the years that most of the judgements that go before the UK Privy Council are affirmed by the law lords. It is said that over 80 per cent of the cases are not overturned. To me, this is a good record that is worthy of the highest commendation. Since the eminent QC avers political interference in such matters in Jamaica, can she give us an example of any that has been overturned on the basis of political interference of the judiciary in a particular case? I believe she would be hard put to do this.

The fact is, we have some of the brightest judges operating in our judiciary, just as we have some of the most adroit lawyers that can be found anywhere serving in the justice system. Let us not do cosmetic surgery on a nose that does not need any fixing. We may do greater damage.

And then there is the matter of how many Jamaicans are really getting justice with our appellate jurisdiction being in the UK, to which you have to get a visa to visit.

The bedrock principle for the QC is that justice must be delivered to the ordinary Jamaican. How many ordinary Jamaicans can afford a lawyer to plead their case before the law lords? Even if done pro bono, this is not easily arrived at for the ordinary person. It can be a time-consuming process for any attorney to prepare his or her case and then take it to the law lords for free.

It would be good if people like the QC would advise us what this process is and what the ordinary Jamaican that she champions could be up against.

If we are to end our relationship with the Privy Council we should do the decent thing and bring it fully home. It should not be located in a halfway house in Barbados, Trinidad, or any other jurisdiction outside of Jamaica.

Advocates for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), for reasons best known to themselves, will protest. Notwithstanding the money that has already been spent — I almost said wasted — the Government should move with alacrity to end speculation regarding where Jamaica stands. Maybe it is debating whether we should not repatriate our full judicial sovereignty to Jamaica.

Again, the problem is not with the quality of the jurisprudence that can possibly come from that bench. Caribbean lawyers and judges can hold their own against the brightest in the world. My problem is whether we will ever develop confidence in ourselves that we can do this as a people and whether the best interests of the Jamaican people can be served by having others looking over our shoulders. Can we believe as Jamaicans that we can do this?

In time, we need to overhaul our justice system to make it the best we can. We have been making some strides, but there is a great deal more work to be done. But, if we sit and wait to get everything looking as spick and span as we want them, we could be waiting for our 100th anniversary to say to the British monarch, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

We must move on.

Cost of the Royal Visit

There has been some kerfuffle that the $8 million that was spent on the recent royal visit of Prince William and his wife should not have been spent. Some argue that the money would have been best spent on more worthy projects on the island.

We need to get one fundamental principle right. As long as we allow the British monarchy to have the presence it does in our national life, we will forever be spending money on any visit members of that body make to the country.

This will rub us the worst way, but we cannot ignore the hospitality that we have to extend to The Queen or her representatives when they visit. We are constitutionally bound to respect these protocols.

We can minimise costs as best we can, but money will be spent. The way out is to fire the monarchy once and for all.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm and Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.