Congratulations Adrian Saunders! Reflecting on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

On Tuesday, June, 3 the Caribbean Court of Justice held a special ceremonial sitting at Queen’s Hall in Trinidad and Tobago to “honour and celebrate a consequential Caribbean Jurist”, as one Jurist put it. The Jurist to whom they were referring was Justice Adrian Saunders who was retiring as President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). His tenure as president started on July 4, 2018. I have to single out for those who are unaware of this, that he is a Vincentian. I have to emphasize this, for the plaudits given to him on the occasion would surely have made all Vincentians who followed it, proud. The audience involved the judiciary of the region, including judges of the High Court and of the Court of Appeal, along with other Caricom officials, particularly Dr Carla Bennett, Secretary General of Caricom, and some Ambassadors. The focus was on his tenure with the CCJ and particularly his position as president. Most of the presentations made were by members of the CCJ and they were united in the qualities they admired about the outgoing president. He was depicted as a man of integrity, honesty and humility, was considered a beacon of intellectual brilliance, formidable intellect, clarity of thought, having a passion for judicial education and reform. His commitment to social justice and his rich legacy to Caribbean jurisprudence and by extension to the CCJ were highlighted.

Justice Saunders was among the third cohort of students from the Cave Hill Law School, graduated from Hugh Wooding Law School in 1977. So, he has provided 48 years of legal services, including 19 years in private practice, before being invited to join the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court High Court Bench ,and to other positions until getting to the CCJ at which he spent 20 years, and was seen as being instrumental in shaping its foundation.

In his address to the gathering Justice Saunders noted the references to his passion for justice, fairness for democracy, decolonisation and self determination and felt that for those he owed much to the example and experience of his parents. He singled out the role of his father in a three-day Teachers’ strike in 1954. His father was president of the St. Vincent Teachers’ Association. Although some of the concerns were addressed, he experienced some punitive measures, was removed from the school he headed to a rural school. This had a serious effect on his mother, remembering that Adrian was born in 1954.

Justice Saunders’ comment about the CCJ as an Appellate Court is worth reflecting on. He stated “…. if you wish to know the true opinion of CARICOM’s states about the CCJ don’t count the number of states that have acceded to the Appellate jurisdiction… That is pure politics, untidy, disappointing, and sometimes frustrating politics. Look instead at the respect acceded by all Caricom states to the judgements of the Court. Look at the timely and full compliance with those judgements…. The CCJ is by no means perfect but if over the last 20 years the Court had failed any of the severe challenges placed before it we would certainly have heard it loud and clear again and again … “

We have to remember that the CCJ has two jurisdictions- an Original that involves the interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and an Appellate jurisdiction making it the final court of Appeal, a replacement for the Privy Council. It should be noted that only Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana and Saint Lucia have accepted the CCJ as their final Court of Appeal. Can we really consider ourselves as independent countries if we still hang on to our once ‘Mother Country’s’ Privy Council to be the final adjudicator over civil and criminal cases?

It is ironic that while the president of the CCJ is a Vincentian whom we admire for his honesty and integrity, and legal acumen we have made little effort outside the failed Constitutional Reform attempt to discuss and enlighten our citizens on it. This is an issue that demands more time, and I promise to come back to it. In 2010 serving as head of the UWI Open Campus, SVG, I collaborated with the Caribbean Law Institute at the Faculty of Law, at Cave Hill, Barbados. In a media release on February 8, 2010, I stated: “We are of the view that the debate on the CCJ has not been as extensive and informed as it should be and welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the Caribbean Law Institute Centre in providing information about the CCJ and in extending the debate beyond the confines of the political landscape of individual Caribbean countries…”.

The Public Forum as we entitled it, took place on February 11, 2010, when two presentations were given by Professor Simeon McIntosh (now deceased) who was born in Carriacou and who spoke on the “Philosophical Justification for the CCJ as the regional appellate court” ,and by Professor Charles Anderson who is now the replacement for Justice Saunders. Professor Anderson’s address was on “Delinking from the Privy Council and accepting the CCJ in its appellate jurisdiction.” The vote of thanks was given by Vynette Frederick of the Bar Association. Although the forum attracted the attention of many persons, I was disappointed with the turnout of lawyers. This was followed some time later with a lecture by Dame Bernice Lake of Anguilla who looked critically at the CCJ and stated that while we welcomed the CCJ, what we needed was Justice. I intend to follow up later this piece on the CCJ, hopefully reopening the debate.

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian