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Former Attorney General of T&T, Kamla Persaud, regards the exclusion of East Indians from the appointment to the Caribbean Court of Justice, as one good reason for not supporting the passage of the Bill. Member states of CARICOM are seeking to replace the Privy Council with the CCJ.
Speaking in the Lower House on a Bill that seeks to make the CCJ the final court of appeal, the former attorney general said, "The composition of the judges so far of the CCJ was totally out of kilt with the reality of the Caribbean."
She pointed out that there were people of Indo descent in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname and the composition of the CCJ must reflect that.
Further, she said that the UNC did not sign an agreement to have the CCJ replace the Privy Council. Rather, the agreement the UNC signed to bring the CCJ into effect was to have it in its original jurisdiction only, that is, to deal with issues arising out of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
She said all other regional courts around the world had only one jurisdiction to deal with disputes arising from treaties. She said the CCJ was the first to have an original and appellate jurisdiction.
On Feb 1st 2005, former Appeal Court judge Rolston Nelson was sworn in as a judge to the CCJ, joining Justice Desiree Bernard and Duke Pollard of Guyana, Prof David Hayton of the UK, Justice Adrian Saunders of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Justice Jacob Wit of the Netherlands Antilles. They join president of the CCJ and former chief justice of T&T, Michael de la Bastide SC.
But, in his contribution, Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley said that Kenneth Lalla, SC, had been the chairman of the Public Service Commission and the Police Service Commission for over ten years and he was now a member of the Regional Judicial and Legal Service Commission (RJLSC), which appoints judges to the CCJ.
Subsequently, House Leader Ken Valley, announced that a list of amendments was being circulated in order to satisfy the demands of the Opposition during the debate so as to ensure the passage of the Bill to allow for the establishment of the court in its original jurisdiction. The legislation also provided for the CCJ to have an appellate jurisdiction, but the Opposition was not prepared to support this.
Chief Whip Ganga Singh said the UNC was prepared to cooperate with the Government to secure establishment of the CCJ with an original jurisdiction.
The Trinidad and Tobago Government secured passage of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Bill with a simple majority vote in Parliament on Wednesday night, Feb 2nd 2005.
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