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NEW JAMAICAN Issue#2 Mar. 16th 2001 Justice vs. Just Us in the Caribbean ...by Whirlwind Storm. By now we should all be familiar with the case of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which has been on trial for over a year within the various political, civic and legal fraternities as well as in the media of Jamaica. However, should you be completely unaware of the shituation, please allow me to bring you up to speed as briefly as possible. On February 14th of this year, eleven Caribbean nations signed an agreement to set in motion the process of establishing a Caribbean Court of Justice. The CCJ first of all, according to Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson, “would act as a developmental tool in the administration of trade disputes” within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), once this itself is established as set out under certain protocols of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Its second and seemingly most debated function would be to serve as the replacement for the British based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, as the highest court of Appeal. The signatories to the agreement were Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, and Suriname. The signing which took place in Bridgetown, Barbados was meant to INDICATE ONLY an intention to establish a Caribbean Court of Justice since the motion will need to be ratified by at least three member nations. Furthermore, several governments still need to amend their constitutions to abolish the Privy Council and incorporate the proposed CCJ. Given all of that, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson stated that it would take Jamaica two to three years for the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice to be operational. I am a Garveyite myself like the Rev. Ernle Gordon of St. Mary’s Anglican Church of Jamaica, who has advocated vigorously for the establishment of the CCJ so far. I welcome and salute the idea of a Caribbean Court which will not only help to cement our ties commercially and foster a greater spirit of togetherness throughout the region but will also serve to help straighten our backs a little. This so that we can get up from off our knees where we have been at the feet of British Imperialism since we became West Indians. I am not saying that there are not going to be problems. Nor am I discrediting the concerns raised by the Opposition parties as well as the Council of the Jamaica Bar Association. There is a fear of political manipulation should such a court be established. There is a fear of unstable funding to maintain such an institution. There is a fear of lack of impartiality and a loss of confidence in the judicial systems should we remove our access to the British Privy Council. Human Rights Organizations are suspicious of the CCJ becoming the hangman’s court. Leader of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Edward Seaga, has declared "Only the Privy Council can give us justice”. Oh ye of little faith! Fear will drive a man to do or say the most ghastly things. Where do the nations of the so-called first world order turn when they have internal disputes to settle? How many times have the British asked us to decide whether their criminals should remain on Death Row indefinitely or what settlement should be awarded in one of their civil cases? Are we lacking in morality while they are compassion incarnate? Are they somehow more just and less corruptible than our own judicial officials who studied with them in their own schools? Are we in danger of degenerating further into a lawless wasteland should we step out from under the remaining vestiges of the colonial yoke? Are we incompetent? Have we lost our balls or our brains or have we groveled so long for crumbs at their table that the thought of cooking our own meals in our own houses has been so far removed from our minds that it is no longer perceivable. Heed the words of our greatest heroes Jamaica:- “Every man has the right to decide his own destiny. Every race has a right to its own action; therefore, let no man persuade you against your will, let no other race influence you against your own.” But, “if you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life…” – Hon.Marcus Mosiah Garvey. “Wake up and live.. Jah say, not one of my sheep shall sit by the sidewalk and beg your bread” – Hon. Robert Nesta Marley. While I admit that the government has been hypocritical in its handling of the CCJ issue by denying the loud and wide calls for a referendum, I also would not like to see this institution go the way of the West Indian Federation which was crushed by one such biased, and inevitably partisan referendum. Even more hypocritical is the way in which the PNP government has lauded the case of the CCJ with such anti-imperialist zeal when this is in fact the same government that only months ago sold the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) to the American based Mirant Energy Inc. In effect, delivering up a major part of the country’s infrastructure into foreign hands. Nonetheless they were not wrong in imbuing the issue with nationalistic fervor. Such an institution as the Caribbean Court of Justice goes far beyond the issue of judicial impartiality and should speak to the psyche of the people. Indeed the chains have been removed from our bodies but the shackles still linger around our minds. So what if the CCJ is lacking in the US 20 million estimated as the necessary amount to establish and maintain it for the first five years? So what if we run the risk of our judges being influenced by political forces within the region? So what if we stand against the world on the issue of capital punishment? At least when we stand we will stand TOGETHER. Jamaica will get no bigger, we have no colonies, we have no navy, we have no voice in this world as a small third world nation. The Caribbean must stand together. West Indians must unite and if even the smallest inkling of such a unification can come through an idealistic institution such as the CCJ, whether there are peep holes in the fabric or not, then it is our duty to support such an ideal with all our might and mind. We can sew up any and all holes later but only after we stop trying to tear the fabric apart. NEW JAMAICAN Vol.1