(Trinidad Express) Making the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Trinidad and Tobago’s final appellate court would be one of the highest honours that could be given to the court’s first president, Michael de la Bastide, says Law Association (LATT) president Lynette Seebaran-Suite, SC.
De la Bastide, a former chief justice, died at age 86 on March 30.
He is being laid to rest today following an official funeral service at the Church of the Assumption, Maraval, at 10 a.m.
In a Zoom interview with the Express on Tuesday, Seebaran-Suite paid tribute to de la Bastide, describing him as a colossus of the legal profession and the Judiciary both in Trinidad and Tobago and the CCJ.
“One of the best honours that he could be given going forward would be for Trinidad and Tobago to seriously consider the Caribbean Court of Justice,” she said.
Seebaran-Suite said she is disappointed T&T has not yet made the step to accede to the CCJ, adding that all her immediate predecessors have been in support of joining the CCJ.
The LATT president further expressed disappointment over a recent statement by Assembly of Southern Lawyers president Saira Lakhan with respect to the CCJ, where she reportedly said the issue of replacing the London-based Privy Council with the CCJ should be put to a referendum.
Lakhan was quoted as saying, “We should not rush to abolish the Privy Council in favour of the CCJ lest we throw out the baby with the bath water.
“The PC has served us well for the past 60 years. It is free from political influence and its judgments are respected and accepted by the people.
“This is a fundamental change, and it is best that the Constitution be amended to provide for a referendum and let the voice of the people be heard on their choice of the final appellate court.”
Noting that concerns have been expressed about possible political influence in the CCJ, Seebaran-Suite however said the method of appointment of CCJ judges is so “carefully constructed” so as to avoid the potential for political interference.
The CCJ judges are appointed by the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission which is made up of persons from Caricom, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and jurists appointed by the Council of Law, she pointed out.
She said, ironically, Trinidad and Tobago is the country that has had the most judges in the CCJ of all the territories.
CCJ advantages
Seebaran-Suite said there are many advantages of becoming a member of the CCJ, including cost.
“With joining the CCJ you really have a great opportunity of advancing and broadening the jurisprudence of the Caribbean by virtue of the type of the cases that would go to them,” she said.
She said during her second term as Law Association president she intends to deepen and broaden the education of the public of the pros and cons of joining the CCJ.
Jamaica, she noted, has taken significant steps towards the path of joining the CCJ, as that country’s legal profession has decided to throw its weight behind this move.
She noted that Barbados, Guyana, Belize, St Lucia and Dominica have already made the CCJ their final appellate court, and that she had “confidence that we will get there eventually”.
In praising de la Bastide’s contribution to the CCJ and the legal fraternity, Seebaran-Suite recalled that she graduated in 1977 and had the opportunity to work with de la Bastide, benefiting from the wealth of information, work ethic and excellence in the legal profession.
“When Justice de la Bastide was forming chambers in the year 1980 along with other persons, he invited me as a very young lawyer to join his chambers when he was moving from the venue that now houses the Hall of Justice,” she said.
