JAMAICA’S RASTAS SAY “NO” TO THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE!

By Vernon Davidson—

THE Rastafari M i l l e n n i u m Council (RMC) says it is opposed to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), arguing that the court system, particularly in Jamaica, needs to be repaired before any thought is given to full participation in the regional entity.

“The justice system here, as reported by the justice minister and others, has one of the worst backlog of cases,” RMC Consultant Maxine Stowe told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

She pointed to her own experience with the estate of her late uncle, Clement ‘Sir Coxone’ Dodd, founder of the famous Studio One, which turned out some of Jamaica’s best recordings and became synonymous with ska, rocksteady and reggae. Dodd died in May 2004.

“It’s been 11 years, and at least three family members have already died, so I have no confidence at all,” Stowe said. Inaugurated in Trinidad in April 2005, the CCJ has two jurisdictions — original and appellate.

Clement Dodd

Except for The Bahamas, Montserrat and Haiti, all Caricom countries subscribe to the court’s original jurisdiction.

However, only Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and Dominica have so far acceded to its appellate jurisdiction, which replaces the Privy Council in England as the final appeal court.

Joining the court’s appellate arm has proven controversial, particularly in Jamaica where proponents argue that the Privy Council represents one of the last vestiges of slavery, and that the judges in England have signalled that they want us to leave.

But opponents of the move say that any such decision should be made in a referendum, and some have raised fear that the CCJ will be subjected to political interference.

Yesterday, Stowe made it clear that she was not questioning the integrity of the regional judiciary. However, she pointed to the poor infrastructure of the court system here.

“When I see the judges crying about the conditions of the buildings where they work, it gives me no confidence,” she said.

Maxine Stowe

“I don’t think that the judges are incompetent, but I don’t think the resources are here at all,” she said, adding that confidence in the justice system requires that cases are dealt with quickly.

“It’s crazy just to do business as a normal person… If your family dies you can’t even get your estate distributed,” she lamented. Stowe also suggested that the RMC’s position is informed by the battle it has been waging to protect the indigenous rights of Rastafarians, which includes reparations. “We clearly feel that our rights are best served by international representation… we are a global community, and we have global impact,” she said.