The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) mourns the loss of the Right Honourable Mr. Justice Michael de la Bastide who passed away on 30 March 2024.

Mr. Justice de la Bastide was the first President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), a role to which he applied his extensive knowledge of the law and administration. He will be remembered for establishing the foundation for high-functioning, responsive regional jurisprudence, the hallmark of the CCJ. 

Dominica’s Parliament has approved a bill to make the Caribbean Court of Justice the country’s final court of appeal.

Speaking to the House of Assembly this week, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said the move made this an “historic time.”

When completed, Dominica’s decision would make it the first country within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to accede to the CCJ, which is seated in Trinidad.

The country first announced the plan to introduce such a bill in March.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Thursday ordered Guyana to repay a Surinamese beverage manufacturer more than US$6 million in environmental tax that had been levied on non-returnable bottles because it amounts to a discriminatory import duty that violates Caricom’s Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC).

The CCJ took note of the fact that the Guyana government had taken steps last year to amend the law to create a level playing field for both local and Caribbean beverage manufacturers.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Lawyers for the popular dancehall artiste, Vybz Kartel ((Adidja Palmer), who was found guilty of murder on Thursday, say they intend to appeal the conviction following a trial that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) said had put the judicial system “on trial”.

"There is an appeal process, which we will embark upon immediately. But we will have to look back through the transcript to determine the grounds for appeal," said Tom Tavares-Finson, the lead attorney for the singer.

There appears to be a resolution towards the issue of accommodating Guyanese law students at the Hugh Wooding Law Faculty for the upcoming academic year, Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall said today.

The AG was part of the Guyana delegation participating in the 25th Inter-Sessional CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines.