Introduction
Last month I was present at the Rotary understanding dinner where the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Justice Michael de la Bastide gave the main address. I listened with interest as Justice de la Bastide described some of the challenges which faced the region in implementing the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, particularly when there were inconsistencies between domestic law and the treaty.
I was surprised to learn that Guyana actually has an Act to deal with such inconsistencies: the Caribbean Community Act, 2006 (“Caricom Act”), which gives the Treaty the force of law and contains in Section 8(1) the provision which states that, “In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Act and the operation of any other law other than the Constitution, the provisions of this Act shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.”
My mind immediately sprang to several pieces of legislation which restrict the free movement of capital and the provision of services across the economic region: the Insurance Act 1998, the Securities Industry Act 1998, The Financial Institutions Act and the Foreign Exchange (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act to name a few.
My natural instinct was that with Section 3(1) of the Caricom Act stating that “
