Chairman of the CCJ Accession Committee Sir Dennis Byron, emphasised the role of the media on this journey when he said at the Committee’s first press event on September 15, 2022 that the media are “the primary source of providing information and educational material to the public.”
Regarding our progress. The Accession Committee held its inaugural meeting in March 2022 when it began the task of putting a programme in place.
There are basically two facets of this Accession journey: a Constitutional and legal process; and the public information campaign.
The Constitutional and Legal process comprise what is termed a Notification to the authorities in the United Kingdom, of Saint Lucia’s intention to delink from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) and to Join the CCJ.
There has been an exchange of correspondence, which has confirmed the agreement of the United Kingdom to the replacement of the Privy Council with the CCJ as the final court of appeal for Saint Lucia.
The next step was the drafting of a Bill to alter section 108 of the Constitution by replacing it with provisions for appeals from the Court of Appeal, to be heard by the CCJ. This Bill has to be approved by three-quarters of all the members of the House of Assembly in accordance with the provisions of section 41(2) of the Constitution.
This has been done and that Bill, officially called the Constitution Amendment Bill, was presented for first reading in the House of Assembly on October 11, 2022, by Prime Minister, Hon. Philip J Pierre.
The Bill is awaiting its second reading, which was due by the second week of January 2023, in compliance with the minimum 90-day interval between the first and second readings ordered by the Constitution.
So, the second reading will proceed on a date to be decided by the government and the parliament of Saint Lucia.
It must be noted that consultation on the government’s intention to accede to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction formally began with a meeting between representatives of the CCJ Accession Committee and the Leader of the Opposition. This took place not long after the Committee was duly constituted last year.
Regarding the second facet of this CCJ Accession Journey — the public information campaign – we have held two press briefings.
On February 11, we held the first in a series of Town Hall Meetings. The venue was the Vieux Fort Primary School, where the audience engaged the Committee in spirited discussions on the process of accession.
Town Hall meetings are planned for Castries, Soufriere, and Gros Islet in March. Precise dates and venues will be announced.
We are happy to report that after several weeks of planning, the CCJ Accession Committee has started its legacy media campaign with public announcements of the Town Hall meetings.
An informative and educational social media campaign is expected to be rolled out by this weekend. This will entail Public Service announcements, in English and Creole, digital media activity on Facebook and on Instagram, as well as material for print and electronic media.
The Committee has made great efforts to get the public engaged in this journey of Accession to the CCJ. Therefore, we encourage the public to get involved.
We want to hear from you.