CCJ sits in Belize for first time

Belize City, Belize — The full bench of the Caribbean Court of Justice is in Belize this week for the first time for itinerant sittings from 20-23 April, 2015. The sittings are being held in Courtroom 1, Supreme Court of Belize.

This is the fourth itinerant sitting of the court, with previous sittings being held in Barbados in April 2012, Jamaica and Barbados in March 2013, and Guyana in February 2014.

The court views these itinerant sittings as important to ensuring that it is accessible to the people of the Caribbean Community, which it serves.

During this itinerant sitting, the court will hear appellate jurisdiction matters from Guyana and Belize, including the case of BZCV2014/002 The Maya Leaders Alliance et al v the Attorney General of Belize .

The court sittings from the 20-23 April, 2015 are open to the members of the public to attend.

The CCJ was inaugurated on 16 April, 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago, where it is headquartered. Its central role is providing legal certainty to the operations of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). It is structured to have two jurisdictions – an original and an appellate. In its original jurisdiction it ensures uniform interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, thereby underpinning and advancing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. As the final court of appeal for member states of the Caribbean Community it fosters the development of an indigenous Caribbean jurisprudence.