Dominica’s Attorney General Francine Baron Royer has assured there will be public consultation before Dominica takes a decision to move ahead with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final appellate court.
Belize is the latest member state of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to rid itself from the London based Privy Council to join the CCJ, and there’s speculation that Dominica could become the next country to sign on.
However, Royer told BBC Caribbean, government will not act without “sufficient public discussion”.
“The government has made it very clear that it will not be acting on its two-thirds majority to amend the constitution, without having sufficient public discussion and consultation on any amendment to the constitution. Therefore, before we make that final step there will be significant consultation with the public on that issue,” Royer clarified.
She also said Dominica does not intend to wait on its regional counterparts to move on to the CCJ, before it finalizes a decision.
“We would like to see all the OECS countries moving in that direction at the same time … but we are not going to wait if the process is going to take too long because other countries have challenges that we don’t have, in terms of the need to have a referendum.”
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has expressed his readiness to join the CCJ, saying that a great amount of resources have been exerted into the establishment of the Trinidad-based court, and that the court should be closed if the region is “not serious” about it.
One thing we have a sexy Attorney General in Dominica yeah!!! Francine Baron-Royer is one really beautiful woman in all ways from head to toe… … … If I could I would……………………………..
no to ccj.
not to ccj.
I meant delinking from the privy council, please take note of correction for previous comment on said subject
No to CCJ.
Attorny General, please articulate the law properly, do not give the impression that this section of the constitution can be ammended without public consultation. This is only possible with a referendum as well, therefore a 2/3 majority in parlimant on its own cannot legitimise such move, ie delinking from the CCJ. Public consultion is a must, because in the final analysis, the public is the judge in this matter-they decide whether they want it or not. The other alternative ie an agreement with the UK is not as simply as you make it appear either-there is a lot of constitutional ramifications if not done properly……………..please please articulate the law properly.
Yes but will your government act on the results of the consultation? Your job is specifically to ensure that our constitutional rights are not trampled over. You and the President should act together to make sure that we have a proper referendum before making constitutional changes. Skerrit does not have a mandate to change our constition to adopt the CCJ.