• Decisions that snub CCJ opinions undermine its legitimacy and impede aspirations for independence and regional cohesion.

• Allowing CCJ opinions to be circumvented has the deleterious effect of weakening the value of the CCJ as an institution.

• “Further efforts to utilise the CCJ in strengthening the governance of its Member States and to expand the CCJ’s final appellate jurisdiction will be hindered if import decisions by the CCJ that go directly to the rule of law and support essential tenets of democracy are summarily disregarded by courts of other jurisdictions in the international community.”—CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRoque.

Should the United States’ Courts be able to override decisions made by the highest appellate Court in the Caribbean region, The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)? That’s the question that has been brought, once again, to the fore, of late, in large part due to the latest developments in the Belize government’s case against entities such as BCB Holdings Limited, Belize Social Development Limited, and NEWCO. Continue reading →