History and Jurisdiction of the Court

The idea of a final Caribbean court has been long in the making. It is said that as far back as 1901, an editorial in the Jamaican Gleaner called for an indigenous Caribbean final appeal court.

In 1970, at the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, a Resolution to establish a final appellate court for the Caribbean was tabled. A press release from the Meeting stated “The Conference discussed the idea for the establishment of a Regional Court of Appeal. A general but not unanimous view was expressed that it was desirable that Commonwealth Caribbean countries should move towards the termination of appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.”

In 1992, the West Indian Commission chaired by Sir Shridath Ramphal, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth presented its Time for Action Report which made a very compelling case for a regional final court. The Report identified the need for such a court within the process of regional integration itself, noting that “the case for the CARICOM Supreme Court, with both a general appellate jurisdiction and an original regional one, is now overwhelming- indeed it is fundamental to the process of integration itself.

On 14 February 2001, the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice was signed by 10 CARICOM Member States: Antigua & Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Kitts & Nevis; St. Lucia; Suriname; and Trinidad & Tobago. Two years later, on 15 February 2003, Dominica and St. Vincent & The Grenadines, signed the agreement, bringing the total number of signatories to 12.

On 18 August 2004, the Right Honourable Mr Justice Michael de la Bastide was sworn in as the first President of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

On 19 August 2005, the first appeal was filed at the Court.