Accusations about CCJ President deserves serious attention

EDITOR: The CCJ itself faces questions about accountability. Interest in the matter is increasing among Caribbean people of all walks of life, although not quite as much interest as that associated with the sharp rise in the cost of living.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was created as one of the region’s most important institutions — a court intended to bring justice closer to Caribbean people and to demonstrate that the Caribbean can sustain institutions of the highest international standards.

That is precisely why the present controversy surrounding the Court’s President, Justice Winston Anderson, deserves serious and careful attention.

The issue is not whether allegations should automatically be believed. Nor is it whether the CCJ should be supported or defended.

The real issue is more fundamental:

When serious allegations are made against the head of a regional court, who has the lawful authority to establish the facts — fairly, independently and transparently?

In a second article on the CCJ situation, veteran Caribbean diplomat, Ronald Sanders argues that allegations are not findings, and that neither public controversy nor confidential correspondence can substitute for due process.

Furthermore, he wrote” judicial independence cannot mean immunity from accountability.

The CCJ must emerge from this controversy stronger — not because uncomfortable questions are avoided, but because they are confronted honestly, lawfully and fairly.

There is also a deeper institutional lesson. If the Court’s governing framework provides a mechanism for removing its President but does not clearly provide for an independent examination of serious allegations before removal is contemplated, that is a governance gap that should be fixed.

The answer is not to retreat from the CCJ. The answer is to make the CCJ better.”

The people await news as to if and how the CCJ is going to be made better.

And, by the way, there are those who feel, having deeply considered the situation, that C.C.J. President, Justice Winston Anderson, should resign immediately.

Maralyn Ballantyne LL.B.Hons.