00:00Assembly of Central Legal Practitioners President Kyle Taklal Singh wants regional leaders to deal immediately with problems that have surfaced
00:08between the president of the Caribbean Court of Justice and its sitting judges.
00:12Having seen and read what has been written, I have to call upon the prime ministers of the Caribbean and
00:21CARICOM as a whole to launch an immediate investigation into these matters.
00:28The investigation has to be prompt, thorough and transparent in order to restore confidence in the court.
00:36The unfortunate thing is that the Caribbean Court of Justice has been doing good work to inspire trust and confidence
00:44among the Caribbean people in the court to become eventually the final or the apex court for all Caribbean territories.
00:54Mr. Taklal Singh is among members of the local legal fraternity who are weighing in on a Sunday Express exclusive
01:01report about concerns by a majority of the CCJ's judges contained in email about the leadership of the court's president.
01:11Having read the communication among the judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice, as reported in the Express today, I
01:19am left with a sense of foreboding concern.
01:22The communications tend to demonstrate the potential dictatorial administration of the court.
01:29It also perhaps demonstrates improper attempts to influence the decision of certain judges.
01:36Assembly of Southern Lawyers, President Sarah Lachlan, also made reference to the internal correspondence of the judges of the CCJ,
01:44as reported by the Sunday Express.
01:46The allegations concerning the Caribbean Court of Justice are serious and should not be dismissed in my view, but neither
01:53should conclusions be reached about any individual judge on the basis of allegations and correspondence in the public domain.
02:00The CCJ's own judicial conduct framework places independence, integrity, impartiality, and accountability at the heart of judicial office.
02:10The CCJ has its headquarters in Port of Spain.
02:13Any concerns raised within the court should therefore be addressed through the appropriate institutional processes, fairly and transparently, and in
02:22accordance with the standards governing judicial conduct, and without prejudicing the allegations.
02:27The CCJ is bigger than any individual office holder.
02:32The overriding concern must be preserving the independence and integrity of the court and public confidence in the administration of
02:40justice across the Caribbean.
02:42In response to a question from TV6 News, Opposition MP and Senior Counsel Stuart Young urged caution in commenting on
02:49the situation, but also said he is always very concerned when there are any allegations involving incursions into the independence
02:56of the judiciary.
02:57Senior Counsel Young said that he trusts that the judges at the CCJ as well as the Regional Judicial and
03:04Legal Services Commission with any issues that may exist with the sensitivity that is required and that they would be
03:10mindful of the protection of the institution of the CCJ and the important offices of judges of the CCJ.
03:17While all CARICOM member states subscribe to the CCJ for original jurisdiction matters such as trade disputes, Trinidad and Tobago
03:24is among the CARICOM member states that are yet to replace the Privy Council in London with the CCJ in
03:31Port of Spain as their final court of appeal for pellet matters.
03:36Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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