CCJ leaks won’t sway PNP

The allegations that have emerged about the operations of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) have not affected the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) stance that it should replace the Britain-based Privy Council as Jamaica’s final court of appeal, party President Mark Golding has declared.

In fact, Golding told The Gleaner that the emails cited by Trinidad and Tobago newspaper, the Sunday Express, “disclose an internal environment in which the judges feel free to express their independent and opposing views forthrightly to the president of the court”.

He argued that “such healthy openness in expressing contested opinions is a sound basis upon which a strong judicial institution has been built”.

Articles published in the Sunday Express noted a series of emails it said it obtained, which raised several allegations about the court’s operations, the relationship among judges, and what one email reportedly referred to as an increasingly ‘toxic’ environment at the court.

The Gleaner has not seen the alleged emails.

In a statement, also published by the Sunday Express, the CCJ pointed to its independence, impartiality, integrity and commitment to public confidence in the execution of its duties.

The PNP has long maintained that the CCJ should be Jamaica’s final appellate court and has attached the party’s support for Jamaica’s constitutional reform to the simultaneous adoption of the CCJ.

“We believe that Jamaica stands to benefit significantly from acceding to the jurisdiction of the CCJ as our final court of appeal, which is accessible to our people and has established a reputation for excellence internationally in its adjudication of the cases that come before it,” Golding said.

However, he said it was “very unfortunate” that discussions among the judges were made public, stating that “there is nothing to suggest that any of the judges expected or consented to that happening”.

Former Co-Chair of Jamaica’s Constitutional Reform Committee, Marlene Malahoo Forte, also believes that the leaked discussions were “a poor exercise of judgement”.

“I wonder who could be so upset with how the issues are being handled that they did not have the temperament to have the discussion internally and await resolution of those matters,” she said. “To have internal matters leaked by or from among people who should appreciate what confidential means, it’s very troubling.”

‘Not helping the cause

Further, she said the nature of the issues identified in the emails has already negatively affected public perception of the court.

Declaring that “there is no gain for the court and those who are behind the leak on this matter”, Malahoo Forte said the current public scrutiny of the court is not in its best interest, especially amid the debate in Jamaica and other CARICOM states that do not use the CCJ as their final appellate court.

“People are going to be searching out for information, looking at everything when the time comes for them to express their views; and I do believe, based on what I have seen so far, that this leak on public squabble of important internal matters is not helping the cause of the court,” she said.

Meanwhile, constitutional expert Dr Lloyd Barnett told The Gleaner that the allegations “give ammunition to those who are opposed to the court, and they’ll ignore what happens elsewhere”.

However, the former deputy chairman of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission – an independent body responsible for appointing judges to the CCJ, except the president, and overseeing discipline among other judges and employees – described the allegations outlined in the emails as “a lot of air, a lot of smoke without any true fire”.

He noted that the court’s dress code can only be changed after a consensus and that it is a function of the president to choose judges for panels. Barnett said the limited number of judges on the CCJ means that, more or less, the same judges will sit in hearings.

There are currently seven judges on the CCJ, including the president.

Further, he said differences in opinion are part of the process of an appellate court.

“The judges may have different views and they try to persuade others, but you stand up for what you think is right and nobody can change that,” he said.

He pointed out that although the president of the CCJ sits as chairman of the RJLSC, if there are conflicts involving a judge, the president would recuse himself and the deputy chairman would preside over the meeting.

Barnett, who is a strong proponent of the CCJ, expressed confidence that the issues at the regional court will be resolved internally.

“As far as I am concerned … there was never a case in which any disputes or differences were not resolved,” he said. “There have been in the Privy Council and in the former House of Lords, now Supreme Court, many fairly serious disputes, but when it happens in those countries you don’t take notice. We tend to condemn ourselves and excuse others, as part of colonial heritage.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com