CARICOM Attorneys-General approve agreements for signature

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) – The Fifteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has approved an amendment of the Caribbean Development Fund (CDF) Agreement and the Revised Agreement establishing the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) for signature by the Heads of Government.

The two-day LAC meeting got underway in Bridgetown, Barbados on Wednesday 16 February and during the sessions there will be a launch of a redesigned website of Legal Services of the CARICOM Secretariat.

The amendment to the CDF Agreement is to ensure differential access by the Lesser Developed Countries of the Community to grant funds during this first Contribution and Subvention Cycle of the Fund. LAC has also considered matters relating to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for submission to the Conference of Heads of Government, the prioritisation of harmonised legislation for the Community, the status of assistance by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) to the Community and individual Member States in legislative drafting and law revision.

The meeting, attended by ten Attorney-General and the Ambassador of Suriname to CARICOM, acknowledged with appreciation the assistance of the CFTC and the achievements under the project.

The re-designed website, CARICOMLaw.org, is intended to function as a repository of information regarding developments in CARICOM law and jurisprudence for the benefit of officials, attorneys-at-law, students and the general public.

The site will feature a database of all CARICOM instruments including treaties, agreements and other legal documents such as national legislations submitted by Members States. A news letter titled CARICOM Chambers Quarterly produced by the Office of the General-Counsel, CARICOM Secretariat, will also be a common feature.

In addition to the freely available legal resource materials, CARICOMLaw.org is designed as an important resource for the Community in the review and preparation of legal instruments, with facilities for registered users to participate in discussion fora and have access to classified documents.