Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Garth Lucien Wilkin, will deliver a keynote address at the eighth Biennial Conference of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Academy for Law that gets underway in Trinidad next month, according to a government statement issued here.
It said that Wilkin had been invited to the November 26-28 event by CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson.
Attorney General, Garth Wilkin
The conference will be held under the theme ‘The CCJ at 20: Reflections on Caribbean Jurisprudence’ and that the statement said that as the Trinidad-based CCJ marks two decades of service to the region, this conference presents a timely opportunity for Caribbean legal stakeholders to reflect on past successes and chart the way forward.
It said that Wilkin will address the topic ‘The Criminal Justice Reform Journey in Saint Kitts and Nevis’ on November 26 and that his presentation, alongside distinguished regional jurists and practitioners, will consider critical issues such as case-management, modern trial procedures and harnessing technology for the efficient delivery of justice.
Wilkin will also chair a panel discussing the structured role of other stakeholders in developing Caribbean jurisprudence.
‘Since the implementation of innovative criminal justice reform measures over the past three years, the Federation has seen a drastic reduction in major crimes and greater efficiencies in its justice system,’ the statement said, adding that ‘this invitation is therefore a strong recognition of the Federation’s active leadership in regional justice reform’.
The statement recalled that in February last year, Wilkin was appointed to serve on the CCJ-established Monitoring, Evaluation and Facilitation Committee, a region-wide platform tasked with assessing the implementation of key justice-reform initiatives, including those set out in the Needham’s Point Declaration.
‘His role on that Committee enabled Saint Kitts and Nevis to help shape and benchmark the reform agenda in the Caribbean and demonstrates our Federation’s commitment to delivering tangible improvements in access, efficiency and fairness in our justice system,’ the statement said, adding that ‘the Federation is proud to stand at the forefront of regional legal transformation and confident that the address will highlight our reforms and strengthen St. Kitts and Nevis’ position as a partner in building a just, modern Caribbean’.