The CARICOM Secretariat winds up its sensitization sessions for judges in competition law and policy this Friday, June 17 in Belize at the Radisson Fort George Hotel. Fourteen members of the judiciary will be participating in the activity which is funded under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF).These include judges from Belize’s Supreme Court, The Court of Appeal as well as registrars. This exercise forms part of a larger project to assist Member States with improving their regulatory, administrative and institutional arrangements related to the CARICOM Single Market and the Economy, the CSME.

The sessions, which were launched in March, will sensitize participants on a range of areas including the principles of competition law and policy, competition and economic efficiency and procedural issues related to competition law enforcement. They will also be examining the critical subject of mergers as well as the different types of agreements between companies. The exercise will be conducted by the consulting firm, BKP Development Research and Consulting (BKP) based in Germany. At the end of this session, it is expected that the capacity of Member States to handle competition-related issues within the CSME will be strengthened.

Under this same project, the Secretariat is also collaborating with BKP to produce a competition manual for the judiciary. This manual is intended to serve the specific needs of Member States, particularly in those jurisdictions where the law is silent on competition matters and enforcement. It is hoped that judges will use the manual as a reference guide when they hear competition-related cases; it may also be used in the drafting process if Member States are involved in drafting their competition law. This manual should be completed by this September after which it will be available to Member States.