The Contribution of the Caribbean Court of Justice to the Development of Human and Fundamental Rights

Abstract

On the 16 April 2005, after a period of gestation of about one hundred years, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was inaugurated in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.1 The establishment of the Court was received by many as one of the most important events in Caribbean legal and political history as it was expected both to end the long lasting post-colonial legal and judicial dependence of the Caribbean on the UK2 and to strengthen Caribbean integration vis-à-vis the challenges posed by globalization at the end of the Cold War.3 In the words of its first President, Mr Michael de la Bastide: The establishment of this Court is certainly a landmark event in the history of the Caribbean. … The Court has the capacity to make an important contribution to the integration movement in the Region, and … to give to the people of the Caribbean ‘the full benefit of what a final Court can do to transform society’.4