At a press conference held on Saturday, March 19, 2011, to introduce president-designate of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Sir Dennis Byron, officials urged Caribbean states to continue to move towards accession to the court’s appellate jurisdiction; however, when probed, did not make a bold commitment to see to the resumption of capital punishment in the region.
In the years of debate surrounding the replacement of the UK’s Privy Council with the CCJ as the region’s final appellate court, some in the region had argued that one advantage of the regional court could be the resumption of capital punishment. The suggestion came amid frustration with the Privy Council for overturning death penalty convictions.
In January this year, Amandala had asked Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow about the resumption of hanging in Belize—the penalty still retained on our law books for murder. The last hanging in Belize was 1985.
Prime Minister Barrow told us that when cases were appealed to the Privy Council, which was Belize’s final appellate court until June 2010, when Belize fully adopted the jurisdiction of the CCJ, convictions for murder that carried the death penalty were thrown out.
“I would think that there is now more of a likelihood that such a conviction and such a sentence would be upheld by the Caribbean Court of Justice,” said Barrow.
Byron told Belizean press that the types of punishment that the Caribbean Court of Justice would uphold, as a judicial institution, really depends on the laws and the Constitution of member states. He said that it is the duty of the court to apply those laws.
Byron also said that the fairness of the judicial process has to also be emphasized.
“At the end of the day, the court will have to consider each case on case-by-case basis,” the president designate added.
Outgoing CCJ president, Michael De La Bastide, added that whereas individual judges may have their personal views on capital punishment, “whether he is against it ought to play no part in his decision with regard to any case that comes before him.” The case, said De La Bastide, has to be decided on basis of the laws and Constitution of the particular country.
In his opening remarks to journalists, Byron promoted the court as a major vehicle of regional integration: “I really believe in the court and its importance to the Caribbean community as one of the vehicles that will assist in social stability, economic development and regional integration.”
He also mentioned that the Bar Association of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) had published a resolution in which it affirmed its support for OECS member states to join the CCJ and in which it extended an invitation to governments to do what they can to attain that agenda.
Byron also said that the institutional arrangements of the court guarantee that there is no political interference.
The only fear would be that the individual judges might depart from ethical standards and there is absolutely no justification for any doubt there, he said.
The majority of countries in the Caribbean have retained the Privy Council as their final appellate court, whereas only three have broken away and given that power to the CCJ: Belize, Barbados and Guyana.
Jamaica, for example, has subscribed to the original jurisdiction (for the interpretation and application of the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community) and is a financial contributor, although it retains the Privy Council as its final appellate court.