Chief Justice Bryan Sykes says it’s difficult for Jamaica to justify the continued maintenance of the UK-based Privy Council as the country’s final appellate court.
The country’s top judge made the comment while speaking to Nationwide News on the sidelines of the opening reception of the Caribbean Conference of Chief Justices and Heads of Judiciaries on Wednesday.
Ricardo Brooks has more in this report.
It’s one of the most frank admissions by the man who the Constitution recognises as the head of the judicial arm of the Jamaican government.
Bryan Sykes says the fact that the country’s values have changed, it’s difficult to justify giving a foreign court final say on legal matters.
The Privy Council was originally the highest court for civil and criminal appeal for the British Empire.
It now serves that purpose for many Commonwealth countries, including Jamaica. The present construct of the court is based on a British law of 1833.
The matter of Jamaica’s apex court has again come to the fore after Opposition Leader Mark Golding demanded Jamaica end its relationship with the Privy Council at the same time that it seeks to become a Republic.
The government has maintained the matter will be addressed in phase two of the ongoing constitutional reform process.
But the Chief Justice says no country can truly claim independence until it exerts final say over its own legal affairs.
Justice Sykes was appointed Chief Justice of Jamaica in March 2018 on the recommendation of Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Sykes says the Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ, has proven its ability to serve as an appropriate apex court.
While conceding that the matter of which court should ultimately be Jamaica’s final court is for others to decide, Sykes says no one has faulted the work done by the CCJ.
Bryan Sykes, Chief Justice of Jamaica.
He was speaking to Nationwide News on Wednesday.
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