MANDEVILLE, Manchester – Executive director of the advocacy group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) Mickel Jackson is adamant that Jamaica should move ahead with the proposal to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the country’s final appellate court despite the controversy now engulfing the court.

Pointing to a recent public response by the CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson to leaked emails with allegations around panel fixing and interference, Jackson called for accountability from the Trinidad-based institution and reassurance that the matter will be properly ventilated.

“He [Anderson] strongly condemned the leaking of those emails. However, there are some serious questions that still remain and I would urge the Caribbean Court of Justice to announce that an investigation has commenced or at the very least say to the public across the Caribbean region what mechanisms of accountability exist,” said Jackson as she addressed the Lay Magistrates’ Association of Jamaica [LMAJ] Golden Scale Awards at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville on Saturday.

“While we can collectively call for an independent and transparent investigation I want to urge us in Jamaica not to use those email leaks as an excuse not to move forward with the CCJ,” added Jackson to loud applause from the audience.

“Not all of us can afford an attorney. Even if you were able to afford an attorney. There is no guarantee that you will get a visa [for] the defendant or the attorney to go to London,” she said in reference to the UK-based Privy Council.

According to Jackson “there is the strength of jurisprudence”.

“Jamaica, we have a relatively new Charter [of Rights] 2011. We have not fully explored the strength of all the rights that we have. For example the freedom of expression, which we speak about, it wasn’t until the Kensington matter involving that six-year-old and it is important that I say that particular judgement examined the regional judgement from the CCJ in what is popularly called the McEwan case,” she said.

The Court of Appeal ruled that Kensington Primary School in St Catherine had breached the constitutional rights of a female student who was denied access in 2018 after her family refused to trim her dreadlocked hair.

In the landmark case of Quincy McEwan et al v The Attorney General of Guyana, the CCJ ruled in November 2018 as “unconstitutional” a law in Guyana that makes it a criminal offence for a man or a woman to appear in public while dressed in clothing of the opposite sex.

Jackson said the CCJ offers a regional body of law that comprehends the strength of respective constitutions.

“CCJ more so than the Privy Council in my humble opinion would be more willing to speak to significant matters such as our savings law clauses, so that Caribbean constitutionalism is one that we cannot underestimate,” she said.

According to Jackson, the Privy Council remains a colonial residual that Jamaica needs to get rid of.

“True sovereignty requires that the final interpretation of our constitution and our laws rest with Caribbean judges who understand our society, our history and our aspirations,” she said.

Jackson urged the LMAJ to join her call for a constitutional reset in Jamaica and appealed for the resumption of Vale Royal talks between the Government and Opposition.

“The people of Jamaica, we have waited long enough, we have made moves, but we need to ensure that we have a constitutional reform commission. One that is headed by an independent person, not by a political appointee to ensure that the interest of the Jamaican people is brought to the fore,” she said.

“Constitutional reform speaks to [LMAJ’s] core work, it ensures that when the people reach to us they can get the justice that they deserve,” added Jackson.