Professor Beckles: CCJ ruling ‘forward looking’

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The recent landmark judgment handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the case of Shanique Myrie versus The State of Barbados, which saw the Court ruling in Myrie’s favour, will have long-term significance in terms of how Caribbean people should be treated, as they move from one jurisdiction to another.
This was the assessment made by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, as he was asked to comment on the historic decision handed down against Barbados last Friday.
Delivered by CCJ President, the Right Honourable Sir Dennis Byron on behalf of the seven member panel, the ruling was that the State of Barbados pay Jamaican national Shanique Myrie in excess of Bds $77 000 dollars (Bds$2 240 in pecuniary damages and BB$75 000 in non-pecuniary damages as compensation for the loss, trauma and injury Ms. Myrie suffered and continues to suffer) after it was decided that the State of Barbados had breached her rights to enter Barbados, pursuant to Article 45 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC), when she visited the island in March 2011.