BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 5, 2015–Dominica will join Belize and two other Caribbean countries: Guyana and Barbados, in making the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) its final appellate court.

The CCJ announced today that the ceremony to mark the accession of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the appellate jurisdiction of the CCJ will take place this Friday, March 6, 2015 at the Dominica State House Conference Centre in Roseau, starting at 10:00 a.m.

CCJ president, Rt. Hon. Sir Dennis Byron, and the judges of the CCJ will attend. Dominica President Charles A. Savarin and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit will also attend the historic ceremony.

Skerrit describes the CCJ as “an important instrument of integration and our own independence, because we now have a court that has been designed by ourselves, managed by ourselves and, of course, indicating to the world that we are mature enough to handle our affairs in every facet of our development.”

He said that the adoption of the CCJ would allow more Dominicans the opportunity to gain access to all the levels of the judiciary system in the region.

Byron has welcomed this historic move for Dominica.