On Wednesday March 6th 1901 an editorial in the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper carried a commentary on the need for the Caribbean to have its own Final Appellate Court. One hundred and fourteen years on we still have those sucking at the breasts of a colonial mother, longing to hold on to a Privy Council that is slapping the child and saying it is time to be weaned. April 16th 2015 marked the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice, an institution that every true Caribbean citizen should be proud of. The journey started in 1970 at the Sixth Meeting of the Heads of Government of Commonwealth Caribbean Countries, where a Jamaican delegation tabled a proposal for the establishment of a Regional Court of Appeal. In 1971 there was a meeting of the Committee of Attorney General and a draft report on the Establishment of a regional court was issued. It took twenty...

The significant strides we have all observed in Singapore must always be placed in the context of the political systems that governed the rule of Lee Kuan Yew. It was in essence a one party state, and the reforms that he was able to push through could not happen in the two party politics of the Caribbean. Lee Kuan Yew would have been ousted by his own colleagues within three years, if he was in the Caribbean, and even if he lasted his first term in office, he would have lost the next election. This is the harsh reality of our political systems. The Caribbean Politician has to say things he knows are not true, what we call lies, but more appropriately called ‘political expansion of thought’,  in order to survive. He has to compromise because a certain person is a large financier of the party and without his support he is finished, it is called political expediency. He has to tolerate...

John N. Turner a Canadian lawyer and a former Attorney General of Canada said the following in a speech to the Canadian Bar Association in December 1969: ‘Substantive and procedural law benefits and protects landlords over tenants, creditors over debtors, lenders over borrowers, and the poor are seldom the favored parties’. Until we can deal effectively with the high levels of unemployment among our young adults, we will soon have a social disaster on our hands. No country can continue with 50% unemployment among young adults, and it is thus imperative that there is a focused and honest conversation within the society to develop strategies to deal with this crisis. The answers are not traditional. One firmly believes that there is much to gain from looking at our history, and thus I sought to do the research on unemployment from a historical perspective. Some months ago, I was...

In a report in the Antigua Observer, Prime Minister  Dr. Kenny D. Anthony is quoted as commenting on the plans by regional airline LIAT, to streamline operations to cut cost and become more efficient as follows: ‘ The changes do provide a basis for optimism. I think some courage is finally being applied to deal with the situation with LIAT. Obviously it is not going to be easy for the government and people of Antigua, but they have to understand that governments cannot continue to pump money year after year into LIAT, despite the carrier’s losses. Caribbean people need LIAT badly’ There is a striking similarity with these comments and the position espoused in the past by the now Political Leader and former Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mr. Allen Chastanet. Mr. Chastanet has been heavily criticized in the past for saying that no money should be pumped into LIAT until there was...

The Constituencies Boundaries Commission Report raises a fundamental issue of our democracy, whether it should be embedded in selection or representation. Should there be equity in electors per constituency or should it be based on equity of population? I am of the firm view that democracy starts with equity in electors and thus as far as possible, each Member of Parliament is elected from an equal pool of voters.  It cannot be based on equity of representation of population. This Constituencies Boundaries Commission was established on June 2012 with five members, two each representing the two major political parties and with the Speaker as Chairman. There are three lawyers among the five members. The Commission drew its authority from Section 58 (1) of the Constitution of Saint Lucia, and proceeded in the execution of their task on the principles set out in Schedule 2 of the...

‘It appeared to be the way of all succeeding government to pull down what has been conceived by a previous government rightly or wrongly’’ – Sir George F. L. Charles The above words of Sir George F. L. Charles were in response to a decision by a UWP Administration in 1965, almost 50 yrs ago, to cancel the lease prepared by Donald James to the C.A. T. Corporation for the development of lands in Vieux Fort. The C.A.T. Corporation was a locally registered company with provisions for St. Lucians to purchase shares in the investment and was headed by an American businessman called Bill Turner. An Agreement was signed by the then Labour Government ( 1961) for the development of certain areas of Vieux Fort previously occupied by the Americans, within a specified time. Sir George correctly placed the caveat of rightly or wrongly, and in the absence of all the information placed before then...