Member States of the Caribbean Community that have not yet ratified the Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ ) were urged to do so with alacrity.

The call came from Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and CARICOM Head of Government with lead responsibility for Governance Dr. Kenny Anthony as he welcomed other CARICOM Heads of Government to Saint Lucia for a one-day summit examining the state of the economies of the countries of the Region.

Dr Anthony told his colleagues that speedy ratification of the Agreement would send a strong signal to the international Community as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) prepares to source the funds to capitalize the US$ 100 million Trust Fund that will be used to finance the CCJ.

The Prime Minister also made a special appeal to Haiti and Suriname in light of their distinct legal tradition from that of the former British colonies of the Community. He added that the process towards putting the CCJ into operation means that work must now commence to establish the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission. The article in the CCJ Agreement which speaks to the establishment of the Commission states specifically that States that can name persons to the Commission must be contracting parties to the CCJ Agreement.

The Commission will have as its primary responsibility the job of advertising for and appointing judges to the Bench of the CCJ. Suriname is among the CARICOM Member States that have signed the Agreement establishing the CCJ but has not yet ratified it. There is anticipation that Haiti having recently deposited its instrument of accession to the Caribbean Community will move swiftly to sign the Agreement establishing the CCJ.

The Agreement establishing the CCJ was declared by CARICOM Secretary General Mr. Edwin Carrington to have come into force on 23 July 2002 when Guyana joined Saint Lucia and Barbados in depositing its instrument of ratification. The Agreement establishing the CCJ requires ratification of three CARICOM Member States for it to come into force.