Jamaica moving to join the Caribbean Court of Justice

Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller has indicated that the country will will be moving to sign on to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in its appellate jurisdiction. This will mark the initial step in breaking away from United Kingdom-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Simpson-Miller pledged that Jamaica would become a republic and replace the Queen with a Jamaican president.

A senior law professor at the University of the West Indies, Simeon McIntosh, has in the recent past criticized the governments of Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago for their delay in joining the regional court.

“My position has always been that the CCJ would not get very far without our two most populous, our largest and, arguably, our strongest political countries in the region.”

To date, only Barbados, Belize, and Guyana have replaced the Privy Council with the CCJ. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have failed to establish the CCJ as their final court of appeal because of continuing disagreements in both countries.