While the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has established that the current APNU+AFC administration is now serving as a “caretaker” government, following the passage of a no-confidence motion against it last year, opinion so far is divided on the implications for the exercise of its authority.
In delivering an eagerly-awaited judgment last Friday, CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders explained that Article 106 of the Constitution envisages that with its defeat on the no-confidence vote, the government is “on a different footing.”
“By convention, the government is expected to behave during this interim period as a caretaker and so restrain the exercise of its legal authority. It is this caretaker or interim role that explains the three month deadline, in the first instance, that the Article lays down, in principle, for the holding of the fresh elections,” he said.