Court of Appeal equal to any other – says Saunders

Justice Adrian Saunders has said that the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal had tremendous depth and he felt that the court was indeed equal to any other appellate court in the Caribbean region attested to by the judgements which were published. {{more}}

Justice Saunders was expressing gratitude to his colleagues on the Bench, and the Bar, his staff and family, particularly his wife who made personal sacrifice for his own advancement. He also spoke of the camaraderie he enjoyed over the past year and a half with Justices Brian Alleyne and Michael Gordon.

“I want to guarantee that my departure will in no way diminish the high quality of the court nor the progressive nature of the norms which this court is seeking to implement.

He said he was looking forward to serving at the level of the wider region. He said he was looking forward to the issues relating to the respective provinces of the executive and the judiciary and particularly the balancing of the rights of the individual and those of the state.

“I think they are matters which will naturally come before the Caribbean Court of Justice. Very often, the final court has to resolve not so much issues of correcting errors of law, but rather issues of policy – legal policy. And,” he stated “I am sure that in resolving these tensions the judges of the court will continue to follow their consciences and their own understanding of the law, irrespective of the consequences. And that is certainly the role that I am bound to play myself.”

Justice Saunders said he couldn’t bring himself to think that Friday 28th Special Sitting was probably his last in this country whether as a barrister or as a judge. He thanked the local Bar Association and asked that the same level of support and assistance be given to his successor.