GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Shanique Myrie’s sincerity in testifying about her treatment by Barbadian immigration officers impressed the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and this was pivotal in their ground-breaking awarding of non-pecuniary damages to her in Friday’s ruling.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Guyanese in particular, we suspect, will be strongly appreciative of the decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) concerning the Shanique Myrie case on freedom of movement in the Caricom area, pursuant to Article 207 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. For long before that date, and in consequence of the deep economic recession that had been afflicting the country, there had been much talk of what many Guyanese considered unsavoury behaviour towards them by officials at various Caricom ports, as they sought work in the wider Caricom area.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - “…[T] he full extent of the right is that both entry and stay of a Community national must not only be “definite”, but also “hassle free” or without harassment or the imposition of impediments. These are essential elements of that right…” per CCJ in Myrie v Barbados [2013] – (para. 63)
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - Many years from now, Caribbean people will recall where they were, on Friday, October 4, 2013, when the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that Jamaican national Shannique Myrie should be compensated for the embarrassment, pain and hardship she suffered at the hands of Barbados immigration officials when she was deported from that country.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - ON October 4, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) handed down its ruling in the case of Ms Shanique Myrie against the Government of Barbados for being denied entry, being physically abused, and deported to Jamaica in March 2011.
Ms Myrie sued the Government of Barbados and was awarded BD$77,240 and the refund of her medical expenses, airline ticket and reasonable legal expenses. The decision demonstrates that the CCJ, even in its infancy, can help to protect the rights of citizens of Caricom countries.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - The United States always sells itself as the ultimate in the democratic process in the world. So much criticism has been levelled at African, Mid-east and European countries that have found themselves in electoral turmoil that the impression has been given that in the process of good governance, nothing could ever go wrong in the United States.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - Two weeks after the Constitutional Court ruled that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and other leading members of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) should answer questions from Dutch investigators under oath in open court , the ruling is being appealed.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Oc 7, CMC – The St. Lucia police say they are not overly perturbed at possible United States sanctions over alleged human rights abuses and have been focusing on reducing criminal activities on the island.
"I have generally said my piece on the US sanctions. This remains a very contentious issue, but we have been keen on doing our work notwithstanding the pressures.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government said Monday it had received the first shipment of 5,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Venezuela under a revised agreement between the two countries.
Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said the agreement would significantly boost the agricultural sector, as it will address the cost of production for agricultural products.
Farmers have over the years been faced with the challenge of high prices for fertiliser, a constraint which affected not only their trade but the high price for agricultural commodities.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB), Dr. DeLisle Worrell says he is confident of an economic turnaround acknowledging that policy makers have ever since the onset of the global recession in 2008, have kept a stable economic platform from which to launch the push for renewed economic growth.
He said foreign exchange reserves have been kept well over one billion dollars (One Barbados dollar = US$0.50 cents) over the past five years, by always holding the lid on spending, in light of expected foreign currency inflows.