The President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Winston Anderson, Monday urged Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries that are not full members of the Trinidad-based court to do so, saying that since its establishment 20 years ago, the CCJ has produced a well deserved and proud record.
Addressing a special sitting to commemorate his inauguration as the the fourth president of the CCJ, Justice Anderson said that fist and foremost, the emphasis will be on the continued production of superior judgments and that the CCJ has firmly rooted the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) in the rule of law ensuring the rights of all Caribbean citizens are respected.
‘A sense of belonging to a community governed by law has begun to take shape in our region,’ he said with regards to the CCJ, which allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region.
While most countries are signatories to the Original Jurisdiction of the CCJ, only Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Lucia and Guyana are signatories to the Appellate Jurisdiction of the CCJ that was established on February 14, 2001 by the CARICOM governments to replace the London-based Privy Council. It also functions as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration grouping.
The Jamaican-born jurist, who was sworn into office in Jamaica in July, said that he hopes during his tenure to continue progressing the efficiency and transparency of the CCJ’s work, noting that in the 20 years of its existence, the CCJ has accumulated a significant body of judicial precedents.
He said the court has delivered a total of 347 decisions comprising 40 in the Original Jurisdiction (OJ), including an advisory opinion and 307 decisions in the Appellate Jurisdiction (AJ) .
‘While our case load has been modest.the decisions of the court have begun to shape the way we, the Caribbean people, live our lives and how we see ourselves,’ Justice Anderson said, adding ‘I suspect that this view needs little advocacy in relation to the original jurisdiction in which all 12 CARICOM member sates participate’.
He acknowledged that the greater work remains to be done in relation to the appellate jurisdiction.
‘We hope, and have reason to believe, that the people of those member states who have acceded to the AJ, recognise our contribution, and we hope that those states which have not yet acceded, will ultimately come to appreciate the value the court offers to the region.
‘The existence of the CCJ has significantly increased the access by Caribbean citizens to final appellate justice,’ he added.
Justice Anderson said that for example, there were 19 appeals from Barbados to the Privy Council in the 20 years immediately before 2005, but in the 20 years since joining the CCJ, there have been 105 appeals from Barbados, an increase of over 450 per cent.
He said in the case of Belize, there were 33 appeals to the Privy Council in the 15 years before accession to the CCJ’s appellate jurisdiction in 2010 and that since then, there have been 56 appeals from Belize to the CCJ, an increase of over 69 per cent.
For Dominica, the numbers were three to the Privy Council in the 10 years before joining the AJ in 2015, and 10 in the 10 years since then, an increase of 233 per cent. St Lucia sent one appeal to the Privy Council in the two years immediately before joining the AJ in 2023 and sent five to the CCJ in the two years since, an increase of 400 percent.
Justice Anderson said that the average increase in appeals has been 288 per cent,’ adding that Guyana, which is the CCJ’s largest, and in that sense, ‘our best customer of our appellate services’ was not included since the country abolished appeals to the Privy Council in 1970.
Justice Anderson said that on the hypothesis of an average increase of 288 per cent in appeals, there would have been a significantly larger number of CCJ appellate decisions had there been full compliance with the obligation in the CCJ Agreement for all member states to join the appellant jurisdiction of the Court.
‘Instead of 307 decisions, there would have been approximately 1,200 decisions. The opportunity cost of non-accession can therefore be measured in terms of reduced access to justice, which is also a denial of justice. Equally, there is a corresponding loss in the opportunity to fulfil the mandate of the CCJ Agreement to develop a Caribbean jurisprudence that is responsive to all areas of Caribbean life. ‘
He said that while the CCJ awaits the accession by the remaining seven jurisdictions, an important phenomenon should not go unnoticed.
‘CCJ decisions in the appellate jurisdiction are given favourable treatment and are increasingly being cited and relied upon by the judiciaries in countries which have not yet acceded to the AJ.’
He said a recent Study indicates that there are at least 450 instances where courts in non-AJ countries have accepted and relied upon decisions of the CCJ in numerous areas, such as constitutional and statutory interpretation, criminal law and sentencing, enforcement of foreign judgments and awards, commercial law and adverse possession.
‘This trend is an encouraging sign for the development of a body of jurisprudence applicable across the entire region.’
Justice Anderson said that very soon, the CCJ will launch its new strategic plan for the next seven years, 2025-2032, reflecting its overarching mission to harness and advance the growth in Caribbean jurisprudence.
‘It embraces our vision of judicial excellence, supported by ever-evolving institutional capacities and competencies. Our core values remain a steadfast compass, and the lodestar continues to be the unrelenting pursuit of Justice.’
Justice Anderson said that the strategic plan recognises, as the first area for strategic priority and intervention, the continued delivery of high-quality judgments to the people and states of the Community.
‘It considers the efficient management of court operations to be essential to upholding the CCJ’s reputation for judicial excellence and independence. Our Bench and administrative support will maintain a constant line of sight to the mission and vision of the Court. The pride of place given in our strategic plan to the judicial output symbolizes in a powerful way that administrative and logistical activities of the court will be intentional in their support of the court’s overriding function. ‘
He said that an aspect of judicial decision-making to which keen attention will be paid is the need to provide clarity of judicial guidance from the apex court and that subject to the overriding principle of judicial independence, ‘we will endeavour to seek consensus and avoid a multiplicity of similar opinions.
‘Instead of nuances in the reasoning of similar opinions the court will prioritise the importance of speaking with a clear voice, presenting coherent guidance, and delivering transparent justice. We will constantly review our procedures for decision-making with a view to creating various opportunities for discussion, consensus, dissension, challenge and agreement, all of which are critical to the adjudicative process.’
The CCJ President said that over the past two decades, the court has benefitted from the expertise of judges from across the region and across the world from various ethnicities, religions, and legal backgrounds.
‘Matters that have come before us are inevitably viewed through varying lenses and perspectives. This has strongly influenced and strengthened our judicial reasoning and has also counselled against unnecessary juridical splintering.’
He said that another area requiring attention is the promotion of accessibility to the court’s decisions, noting ‘it is essential that we make our judgments easily available to our all stakeholders: judicial officers, legal practitioners, law students, and the public’.
He said that while the court’s website contains all the judgments, and the online Library Catalogue makes all judgments and publications of the court readily available ‘accessibility may require a deeper dive’, adding that ‘searchability of judgments is essential to ensuring that relevant cases are followed or cited, as appropriate’.
He said this is where technology can play a vital role and that the CCJ in partnership with the Caribbean Agency for Justice Solutions (CAJS), has sought to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), with the hope of harnessing its transformative benefits.
But even as he spoke of the contribution AI can make ln ‘fulfilling our responsibility to deliver justice efficiently, to protect and safeguard fundamental rights, and to uphold the rule of law in a rapidly evolving world,’ Justice Anderson said ‘we considered it prudent to issue earlier this year, a Practice Direction on the proper use of generative AI in court proceedings.
‘Recent unfortunate developments in some of our jurisdictions such Trinidad and Tobago and in The Bahamas where cases hallucinated by AI were cited by counsel and properly deprecated by the court, emphasize the need for vigilance in preserving the integrity of our judicial proceedings.
‘At the CCJ, we will continue to monitor the advancements in this field, and to responsibly incorporate emerging technologies to support our work.’