Antigua & Barbuda moving to replace Privy Council with Caribbean Court of Justice

Antigua & Barbuda is poised to join Guyana and several other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member-states in having the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court of appeal.

A 3-month public education campaign has been launched in the twin-island nation as the Gaston Browne administration prepares to hold a referendum to determine whether to replace the London-based Privy Council as its appellate court with the Trinidad & Tobago-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The campaign, which has bi-partisan support, will span three months on a budget which government said will exceed 2 million Eastern Caribbean dollars (US$740,000).

While no date has been set, the administration hopes to hold the referendum in June.

CARICOM states that are already using the CCJ as their final appellate court of are Barbados, Belize, Dominican and Guyana.

Demonstrating a united front, Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Leader of the Opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) Baldwin Spencer, who were both at the launch, urged the electorate to choose the CCJ, contending it will provide easier access to justice.

Spencer noted that “true freedom” will only come when the country and region move from a position “where colonialism and imperialism controlled our decision making processes to a position where we are not only a free people, but we have to make sure we form a society in which our decision making processes are ours.”

Supporting Spencer, the prime minister made “a clarion call for all registered voters in Antigua & Barbuda to support this important institution of regional Governance and sovereignty.” He said the current final appellate court “is clearly an outmoded colonial construct that was designed exclusively for the wealthy few and has failed to provide broad-based accessibility and dispensation of justice to the masses.”

According to Browne, justice is not only delayed because of the remoteness of the Privy Council but, in many instances was denied because of inaccessibility associated with the prohibitively high costs.

“Having the CCJ as an all-inclusive final appellate court, will cure this egregious injustice of exclusivity that has plagued us since 1834,” Browne said, while adding that the fact that the CCJ is an itinerant court (travelling court) will help offset costs for litigants.

Former Attorney General Justin Simon, noted that between 2007 and 2014 about a dozen cases from Antigua & Barbuda were taken before the Privy Council, while over 30 cases were taken before the CCJ which was inaugurated in 2005 and which also serves as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised treaty of Chaguaramas.

Simon said the statistics suggest there is a serious problem of a lack of access to justice as he pointed to 2 cases where litigants spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover legal expenses before the Privy Council.

CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque also expressed support from the proposed move, stressing it will “complete the country’s circle of independence.” He said the court was set up with the highest levels of international standards and steps were taken, and remain in place to ensure there is no political interference in the management and operations of the court.