Senate to Debate CCJ Bills on October 16

The Senate, will on October 16, commence debate on the three Bills, which seek  to install the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica’s final appellate court, and delink the country from the Judicial Committee of the United Kingdom (UK) Privy Council.

Speaking at today’s (September 11) sitting of the Senate, Leader of Government Business, Senator the Hon. A.J. Nicolson, said the deliberations are among the “most important and far-reaching” to be undertaken by the Senate.

He noted that the discussions are equal in importance to the Independence Debate in 1962, which dealt with the proposal for a new Constitution, in the predecessor institution, the Legislative Council.

“The initiative has to do with the relocation of our final Court of Appeal, from an institution, which has served us since the year 1833 and it concerns the journey to fully “patriate” that third arm or branch of Government, known as the judiciary,” he told the Upper House.

Senator Nicholson called on all Senators to participate in the debate and “vote at the appropriate and convenient time for the fulfilment of that desire and that requirement”.

“It must be the firm desire of every Senator to have his or her vote recorded in this historic Debate, which really is meant to serve as a platform concerning the character of Jamaica’s system of Government for the future,” Senator Nicolson said.

The CCJ Bills were passed in the Lower House on May 12, with a 42 to 21 vote by all 63 members of the House.

The CCJ was established on February 12, 2001 through an agreement signed by the Heads of Go