KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC - A prominent lawyer in St. Vincent has criticised Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries that have failed to replace the London-based Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as their final court of appeal.

Newly appointed Queen’s Counsel Andrew Cummings has warned that the region's jurisprudence would be retarded as long as Caribbean countries turn to the British court to make final rulings.

CARICOM states have all signed on to the original jurisdiction of the court that also interprets the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, allowing for the deepening of the CARICOM integration movement. But Cummings told a special sitting of the High Court that it was imperative for the remaining territories to join Barbados and Guyana in signing on to the appellate jurisdiction of the CCJ.

"There is a body of opposition to change; there is a body of opposition to the creation of a Caribbean Court of Justice where all countries subscribe. The reasons are so weak that they are not even worthy of discussion," he said at the ceremony that was also attended by CCJ judge Justice Adrian Saunders.

Noting that the Caribbean had produced outstanding legal luminaries, Cummings said that the delay in joining the CCJ is a reflection of the region's devaluing of itself, believing that "we are not as good as other people".

"How can somebody 8,000 miles away, without a feel for our tradition and values, make law for us," said the attorney, a member of the first class of law students to graduate from the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

"The Caribbean Court of Justice is staffed by men of massive integrity…would you get a better group of men in England? We need to bring our law home; I feel it deep in my bones," he added.

The CCJ was inaugurated on April 16, 2005 in Port of Spain.

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