CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders to Speak In Toronto

Justice Adrian D Saunders will be the guest speaker at the 39th Independence Anniversary Gala organized by the St Vincent and Grenadines Association of Toronto on Saturday, October 27 at the Estate Banquet & Event Centre, 430 Nugget Avenue, Scarborough.

Justice Saunders, a native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was recently elected as the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), based in Trinidad. He was named a member of the CCJ in 2005 when the Court was inaugurated and became its third president earlier in July 2018, having been elected earlier in February.

The CCJ is the Caribbean regional judicial tribunal established on 14 February 2001, by the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. The agreement was signed on that date by the CARICOM states of: Antigua & Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; Saint Kitts & Nevis; Saint Lucia; Suriname; and Trinidad & Tobago. Two further states, Dominica and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, signed the agreement on 15 February 2003, bringing the total number of signatories to 12. The Bahamas and Haiti, though full members of the CARICOM, are not yet signatories, and because of Montserrat’s status as a British territory, they must await Instruments of Entrustment from the UK in order to ratify. The Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice came into force on 23 July 2003, and the CCJ was inaugurated on 16 April 2005 in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, the Seat of the Court.

Uniquely among integrative courts, the CCJ is funded through an independent Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund. The Trust Fund was developed to ensure the financial independence of the Court from political interference. It was established with US $100 million from initial contributions of the member states by way of loans from the Caribbean Development Bank. The income from the Fund is expected to finance the expenditures of the Court (remuneration of judges and other employees, operation of the court) in perpetuity. This keeps the CCJ from depending on the largesse of governments and keeps it free from their administrative control. The CCJ Trust Fund is administered by a Board of Trustees drawn from various regional bodies including the following persons or their nominees: the secretary-general of the Caribbean Community; the vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies; the president of the Insurance Association of the Caribbean; the chairman of the Association of Indigenous Banks of the Caribbean; the president of the Caribbean Institute of Chartered Accountants; the president of the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations; the chairman of the Conference of Heads of the Judiciary of Member States of the Caribbean Community; the president of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce; and the president of the Caribbean Congress of Labour.

For additional information on the CCJ, please visit www.caribbeancourtofjustice.org.

The gala at which Justice Saunders will speak is part of the activities co-ordinated by the St Vincent and Grenadines Association of Toronto in conjunction with the SVG Consulate General in Toronto and other SVG groups in Toronto.

Other events include a Thanksgiving Church Service on Sunday, October 21 from 4:00 p.m. at Wesley Chapel Free Methodist Church, 2385 Warden Avenue, Scarborough and a Flag Raising Ceremony at Toronto City Hall on Friday, October 26. For more information, visit www.vincytoronto.com or call Gideon Exeter at 416-992-4253.