Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Edwin Carrington has welcomed the decision of the Government of Belize to abolish appeals to the London Privy Council with effect from 1 June 2010 and embrace the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final court of appeal.

Commenting on the move by Belize, the CARICOM Secretary-General said “the Caribbean Community Secretariat welcomes the participation by Belize in the Appellate Jurisdiction of CCJ.”

In particular, he said the expansion of the CCJ’s appellate jurisdiction will “certainly serve to strengthen the regional and national jurisprudence within the Community.”

Secretary-General Carrington said he anticipated that other Members States would seek to follow the “pragmatic step” taken by Belize.

Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who is also lead Head of Government with responsibility for Justice and Governance in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, had announced at the 20th Inter-Sessional Meeting in March 2009 that his country would join Barbados and Guyana in participating in the Appellate Jurisdiction of the CCJ.

He recently issued the Orders to bring into force the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act and the Caribbean Court of Justice Act. The Orders were published in Belize’s Gazette on 1 May 2010. With the Orders now in effect, the CCJ will replace the London Privy Council as the highest Court of Appeal for Belize.

The Agreement Establishing the CCJ was signed on February 10 this year by CARICOM Member States, with the exception of The Bahamas, Haiti and Montserrat. The Agreement provides for the CCJ to have both appellate and original jurisdictions.

As an Appellate Court, it is intended to be the Court of last resort, replacing the Privy Council which serves this function for all Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions except Barbados, Guyana and now Belize.
The CCJ, inaugurated in 2005, is vested with an original jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application, on behalf of all members of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), of the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community.