Career journalists will be the first to admit that leaks of information, notably from whistle-blowers, especially from deep within Government and quasi-government institutions, have often led to far-reaching improvements in governance.

Indeed, journalism thrives on leaked information to uncover dreadful things like corruption and hidden malfeasance, to the extent that true professionals are willing to face jail time to protect the source of such leaks.

Over time, journalism has been replete with practitioners who became celebrated for breaking stories based on leaks, craving the well-known American Pulitzer prize and multiple awards in numerous countries, including Jamaica, for investigative journalism. The Jamaica Observer notes the current weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over recent leaks coming out of the regional Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) calling into question how the court is being run and how it deals with dissent within — as reported by the Trinidad Express newspaper.

Of course, not all leaks can be justified. No one taking a private matter before the CCJ wants to feel that confidential matters having to do with their case could be leaked, thus placing it in jeopardy.

The crucial point that the mourners seem to have missed, however, is the clear suggestion that the CCJ is not yet ready to take on the mantle of dispensing justice for the region when the procedures to ensure justice within its own ranks cannot be assured.

Between August and September this year, internal and confidential e-mail about conflicts among judges and the CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson have been leaked, leading to investigations which have themselves been subject to leaks.

One Caribbean newspaper was led to scream, though strangely: “At the CCJ, confidentiality is not assured. Indeed, the place is like a sieve. Leaks have seemingly been weaponised in a way that goes beyond questioning the management skills and character of Justice Anderson, and poses an existential threat to the court.”

Jamaicans who have been pilloried for wanting to be cautious about the country rushing into the appellate jurisdiction of the court and kicking out the United Kingdom Privy Council must be asking themselves if they were the only ones who could foresee the danger.

One such person who did not see the danger is Mr Justice Seymour Panton, the former president of Jamaica’s Court of Appeal who excoriated the Observer as far back as 2023 for saying that “Jamaica’s limping justice system is obviously not ready to leave the [United Kingdom] Privy Council.”

As we responded at the time, “For someone who has spent the better part of his legal career in the justice system, Mr Panton surely cannot be as unaware of the myriad flaws besieging the administration and application of justice, resulting in our people not having much faith in it.

“That is at the heart of the reason Jamaicans are not head over heels in love with the idea of moving on from the UK Privy Council, and not because of a lack of pride, as Mr Panton suggests in his article in this newspaper.”

Seemly haven’t learnt anything since then, Justice Panton, unbelievably, has found himself telling newly minted King’s Counsel that Jamaica has “no alternative” to the CCJ as its final court of appeal.

Lord help us if they listen to this flight of fancy.