Castries, St. Lucia.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that the St. Lucia does not require a referendum before becoming a full member of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s final court.
A number of eminent jurists and the St. Lucia government had sought the advice of the Court to determine whether there was an error in the Constitution that would allow for certain amendments to proceed with before joining the CCJ.
"To put it simply the question to be settled was whether governments could proceed with becoming a part of the CCJ simply by obtaining a two thirds House support or that matter should be brought to a referendum where the people could decide for themselves," Senior Council Anthony Astaphan told reporters.
This proposal originally came before Cabinet in 2010 under the former administration following a document prepared by the Attorney General's Chambers.
But the Kenny Anthony administration conceded most of the findings after which ministers were ask to consider whether St. Lucia should accede to the CCJ, as the island’s final adjudicator in both civil and criminal matters.
The Cabinet was also required to consider the constitutional and administrative arrangements for doing so.
