The meeting was organized with a view of establishing a future relationship between the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and the UIHJ. The discussions focused mainly on the enforcement systems within the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
Caricom includes 15 members states (Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago) and 5 associate members (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands). Most of these states have signed an agreement to become part of the CCJ, with others joining sometime in the future.
The CCJ is a traveling court fulfilling two functions. 1. Original Jurisdiction, which deals with your right to move between Caricom countries freely and your right to move your money and your business. This is the basis of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas; and 2. An Appellate Jurisdiction, to hear appeals from courts of those countries which decide to use it for this reason. All Caricom Member States who have signed the Agreement Establishing the CCJ are Members of the CCJ.
Several practical issues were discussed based on a proposal for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the CCJ and the UIHJ, similar to the terms of the Cooperation Agreement between the International Union of Judicial Officers and the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (
CEJA).
Sir Dennis Byron expressed the need in the region to develop an association of enforcement agents which would represent and act on behalf of the countries represented. The UIHJ could provide toolkits, including instructions for facilitating and developing this Association throughout the region. The UIHJ could also facilitate training for the judicial officers in the region.
