Renewed push for all Caricom Member States to accede to CCJ

Calls were reiterated on Thursday for the full accession of all Member States of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which serves as the final appellate court for the region.

Currently, only five of the 15 Caricom countries have acceded to the CCJ.
Guyana is one of the countries in the region that uses the CCJ as its highest and final appellate court – something which President Dr Irfaan Ali says must be done by other Caricom Member States as well.

“We look forward to the day when all members of the Caribbean Community will surmount the constitutional, legislative and political hurdles that still stand in the way of fully embracing the Caribbean Court of Justice as their final Court of Appeal. That day must come, and it must come sooner rather than later, for it will make the completion of a journey that began with independence itself. When every Member State entrusts its highest judicial authority with the CCJ, we will at last, realise the full promise of Caribbean sovereignty,” President Ali stated on Thursday.

Seated in Trinidad and Tobago, the CCJ was inaugurated in 2005 with Barbados and Guyana, two of the ‘Big Four’ – the four Members States that signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas to form Caricom. They acceded to the court’s appellate jurisdiction in 2005 while Belize joined them in 2010, and Dominica followed in 2015. St Lucia was the most recent member join, acceding to the CCJ appellate jurisdiction in 2023.
Since its establishment, the CCJ has embarked on a mission of trying to convince the signatory Caricom Member States that the court is a great utility at their disposal. However, those member states that have not yet acceded to full membership of the court continue to send their appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in London. Most Caribbean states only accede to the CCJ’s original jurisdiction in regard to interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

Legal obligation
But according to newly appointed CCJ President, Justice Winston Anderson, these Caricom countries are legally required to accede to the regional court.
“I think what is important for us to do, though, is to recognise that there is a legal obligation on these Member States to join the Caribbean Court of Justice. When you sign up to be a member, you can, in fact, enter a ‘reservation’, which means that you are not interested in joining this aspect of the regime. So, Suriname, for example, said we are not going to be joining the appellate jurisdiction because, obviously, they have a different system.”
“I believe St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well, entered a reservation, but Trinidad did not, and Jamaica did not either. So, I think it is fair to call attention to that fact and to ask various governments to consider that there is, in fact, a binding legal obligation on them to join on to the court. I think beyond that, it is not for the court [to pursue],” Justice Anderson told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Georgetown on Thursday.
At his inauguration sitting as the CCJ president earlier this month, Justice Anderson urged Caricom countries to become full members of the court, which he said has a proud record since its establishment 20 years ago.
Meanwhile, President Ali contended that that the establishment of the CCJ was a defining moment in the Caribbean’s history, noting that the court is not merely a judicial body but a monument regional collaboration and self-determination.
“This is our court – the region’s court. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is proud to have been among the earliest states to embrace the court and to place our full confidence in its judgements. We have accepted the CCJ as our final appellate court, recognising in it the highest expression of judicial independence and regional integrity. We view it as both a protector of justice and a custodian of Caribbean sovereign,” the Guyanese Leader stated.
He added that, “…the CCJ belongs to every citizen of the Caribbean community, to every island and mainland territory that has contributed to its creation and sustains its purpose. It reminds us that justice in the Caribbean does not flow from a distant metropole, but from within the Caribbean itself, from our own conscience, culture and commitment to fairness.”
President Ali made these remarks during the swearing-in ceremony of Guyanese judge, Justice Arif Bulkan, as the newest member of the CCJ bench.
In fact, even Justice Bulkan pointed out that the Caribbean’s journey to independence was not fully achieved with just political independence. Like President Ali, the newly appointed CCJ judge believes in the region’s self-determination.
“The journey towards full independence is not over…accession to the CCJ, is thus a regional imperative. And not just for the practical benefits, though that’s important – practical benefits like access to justice…but also because of what it means for our self-determination in the region… As the Court continues to fashion a truly Caribbean jurisprudence, mindful of our shared history and values and responsive to our needs in the Caribbean, hopefully the day will soon come when there will be complete accession by all [Member States],” he asserted.
Justice Bulkan believes that the court’s records over the last two decades highlights its sound jurisprudence and commitment to the rule of law.