The Caribbean Court of Justice and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy

• Author: Hon. Mr. Justice Rolston Nelson
• Pages: 164-185

164 CSME: Genesis and Prognosis

In preparation for speaking on the Caribbean every speaker should start

by consulting that book of wisdom, “Time for Action - the Report of the West

Indian Commission.” (1992).

The West Indian Commission had this vision of the Caribbean Court of

Justice (“CCJ”) at page 500:

“But there is now another reason for establishing a court of high

authority in the Region, and that is the process of integration itself,

Integration in its broadest economic sense - involving a Single

CARICOM Market, monetary union, the movement of capital and

labour and goods, and functional cooperation in a multiplicity of

fields - must have the underpinning of Community law. Integration

rests on rights and duties; it requires the support of the rule of law

applied regionally and uniformly. A CARICOM Supreme Court

interpreting the Treaty of Chaguaramas, resolving disputes arising

under it, including disputes between Governments parties to the Treaty,

declaring and enforcing Community law, interpreting the Charter of

Civil Society - all by way of the exercise of an original jurisdiction

- is absolutely essential to the integration process. It represents in

our recommendations one of the pillars of the CARICOM structures

of unity.

Essentially, our recommendation is that the Court should have an original

jurisdiction in matters arising under the Treaty of Chaguaramas (as revised)

and that any CARICOM citizen (individual or corporate) and any Government

of a member State of the Community or the CARICOM Commission itself,

1313

1313

13 The Honourable Mr. Justice Rolston Nelson

Speech delivered at the Caribbean Commercial

Law Workshop of UWI

Florida, USA, 1 September 2005

THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

AND THE CARICOM SINGLE MARKET

AND ECONOMY

165

The Caribbean Court of Justice and the CSME

should have the competence to apply for a ruling of the Court in a matter

arising under the Treaty. This will include, perhaps prominently so, matters

in dispute between Member States in relation to obligations under the Treaty,

particularly under the Single Market régime; but it will also provide for the

clarification of Community law as it develops pursuant to decisions taken

within the CARICOM process. As already indicated, we envisage that that

original jurisdiction should also be exercisable to a limited degree in the

context of the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society which we have separately

recommended.”

Background

The Treaty of Chaguaramas established the Caribbean Community and

Common Market and was signed by the Contracting States on July 4, 1973.

On February 14, 2001, in Barbados, the Contracting States signed an

agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice (“the Agreement”),

defining its jurisdiction in terms of an original jurisdiction to interpret the

1973 Treaty and an appellate jurisdiction as a final court of appeal in

replacement of the Privy Council.

On July 5, 2001 in Nassau, The Bahamas, the 1973 Treaty of

Chaguaramas was amended by nine protocols and is hereinafter referred to

as “the Revised Treaty”. The Revised Treaty defines “court” as the Caribbean

Court of Justice (“CCJ”), as the Agreement had earlier anticipated. Disputes

resolution was therefore allocated to the Caribbean Court of Justice in its

original jurisdiction.

The object of the Revised Treaty is economic integration, but economic

integration comes in different shapes and sizes. There are at least five types

of economic integration formulae. These are (a) a free trade area; (b) a

customs union (c) a common market (d) an economic union, and (e) political

union.

The Revised Treaty clearly does not envisage political union; and it is

well known that political union is anathema to several of the participating

countries.

Some of the provisions of the Revised Treaty suggest that there is a

project of an economic union. The Council for Technical and Economic

Development (COTED) and the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP)

are charged with adopting appropriate measures for the abolition of exchange

control in the Community, and free convertibility of the currencies of the

Member States - (Article 44 (c)); the establishment of an integrated capital