Law expert gives opinion on holding referendum to join CCJ

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – A Caribbean law expert is cautioning against putting matters related to the future of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the hands of the public through a referendum. Professor Rosemary Antoine, who specialises in labour and off shore law at the University of the West Indies (UWI), says such an approach could pose many dangers. While she welcomed the recent ruling by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal that St. Lucia does not require a referendum before the CCJ, Professor Antoine said that one such danger involved people voting along party lines which might not produce a true reflection on the issue.