By: Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News |
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall is calling for more substantial regional commitment to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), urging CARICOM member states that have not yet signed on to its appellate jurisdiction to do so.
Speaking following a recent visit by CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson, Nandlall said the regional court continues to suffer from a lack of support among CARICOM countries, despite being one of the Caribbean’s most important institutions.
“Most of the independent Caribbean territories have not signed on, and that is a travesty,” Nandlall stated.
Currently, only Barbados, Guyana, Belize, Dominica, and St. Lucia have made the CCJ their final court of appeal, replacing the United Kingdom-based Privy Council.
Nandlall described the CCJ as a beacon of regional justice, stressing that it represents the highest expression of Caribbean sovereignty and unity.
“There is hardly another institution of greater significance than the CCJ,” he said. “Countries that are otherwise champions of regional causes have not signed up to the most premier regional institution — the CCJ. It’s an oddity.”
The Attorney General further lamented that, decades after independence, many nations continue to rely on colonial-era legal institutions.
“It flies in the face of Caribbean integration and regional unity,” he added. “The seat of the Court is in Trinidad and Tobago, and Trinidad itself has not signed on.”
While acknowledging that participation remains a sovereign choice, Nandlall said greater advocacy is needed across the Caribbean to achieve full regional judicial independence.
“We have to exert more effort in getting countries in the CARICOM region to sign on to the appellate jurisdiction,” he urged.
The call comes amid ongoing discussions to strengthen regional institutions and advance the vision of Caribbean unity and self-determination.
