BWA General Council Resolution 2013.9
BWA General Council Resolution 2013.9 Caribbean Court of Justice
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Ocha Rios, Jamaica, July 1-6, 2013:
NOTES that English-speaking Caribbean nations have expressed a desire to eliminate the legal practice of making appeals from Caribbean courts to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, based on concerns for political identity, self-determination and national sovereignty;
ACKNOWLEDGES that the principle of a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to serve as the Caribbean final appellate jurisdiction was established in 1947 and that appeal to British courts limits accessibility to justice, owing to visa requirements and significant costs associated with travel and acquiring legal counsel in the United Kingdom;
OBSERVES that, after much deliberation among member states of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), the Caribbean Court of Justice was established in 2005 to provide for the Caribbean Community an accessible, fair, efficient and impartial court system on a jurisprudence reflective of the history, values and traditions of member states while maintaining an independent institution worthy of the trust and confidence of the people and of emulation by the courts of the region;
UNDERSTANDS that the CCJ is vested with an original jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community, as well as an appellate jurisdiction and , at this time, only Barbados, Guyana and Belize use the CCJ as the highest criminal court of appeal;
STANDS ALONGSIDE the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship in its support for the CCJ as the final appellate jurisdiction among member states of CARICOM.
Citations
BWA General Council Resolution 2013.9 Caribbean Court of Justice
Original Source Bibliography: Callam, Neville, editor. Baptist World Alliance 2013 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory. Falls Church, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 2013.
Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Neville Callam, ed., Baptist World Alliance 2013 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory (Falls Church, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 2013), p. 144.
Online Document Full Citation: BWA General Council Resolution 2013.9 Caribbean Court of Justice; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.
In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA General Council Resolution 2013.9).