PNP Hits Back At Tavares-Finson Over Stance On CCJ | RJR News

Amid growing controversy emerging out of the Caribbean Court of Justice, the People’s National Party (PNP) has reaffirmed its position that Jamaica must have a final appellate court that is accessible to its citizens. 

It comes after Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson on Tuesday pressed the PNP to make public its position on Jamaica adopting the CCJ as its final appellate court. 

The move to Republic status has been stalled as the PNP insists that the two must be twinned. 

The regional court has been at the centre of controversy after the Sunday Express in Trinidad alleged that its president, Justice Winston Anderson, a Jamaican, has been accused by fellow judges of authoritarian and dictatorial leadership. 

Following the publication, Mr. Tavares-Finson said adopting the CCJ would be reckless.

But the opposition maintains that the transition to full constitutional independence must include a final court that is accessible to all Jamaicans.

The PNP says the Senate president’s remarks reflect an attitude that disregards the fundamental issue at stake, which is ensuring that all Jamaicans, regardless of their economic circumstances, have meaningful access to justice at the highest level. 

The opposition maintains that such a position exemplifies the “uncaring, disrespectful attitude” towards Jamaicans, the vast majority of whom are economically challenged. 

It has long been debated that obtaining justice through the UK-based Privy Council, Jamaica’s final court of appeal, presents extreme financial costs and issues with severe physical and logistic distance. 

The PNP says, according to the government’s reckoning, the authorities in Guyana, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St. Lucia have also been reckless in committing to the region’s final court.