The Caribbean Court of Justice / No More Privy Council
Birdsong has lived in the Caribbean and enjoys travelling there. He also sometimes researches and writes on legal topics concerning the English Speaking Caribbean. The article I post herewith is about the formation of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Birdsong is the first American to write about the CCJ and is very proud of the fact. The CCJ is a regional court for the Caribbean that will, among other things, serve as a type of “Supreme Court” or court of last resort for criminal matters. Until the formation of the CCJ Caribbean criminal defendants had to take their final appeals to the Privy Council in England. The Privy Council is the judicial wing of the British House of Lords. Birdsong believes the formation of the CCJ spells the end of British colonial rule in the Caribbean and a triumph for the people of color of the ESC who have fashioned the new court.
his article was originally appeared in the 2005 Winter/Spring edition of the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review.
The Formation of the Caribbean Court of Justice: The Sunset of British Colonial Rule in the English Speaking Caribbean
Leonard Birdsong © 2004
I. INTRODUCTION
For a period of almost three centuries, ending at the close of World War II, Great Britain ruled a vast colonial empire. During this period, it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire. Britain ruled colonies in the Near East, the Far East, India, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. Since World II, all but a few British colonies sought and won their independence. A number of the former colonies formed their own governments, implemented their own parliaments, and devised their own court systems. Many became Commonwealth countries, keeping strong ties to Britain. Despite their independence, however, most former colonies retained the English common law as their legal system.
