An Essay Analyzing the Caribbean Court of Justice

An Essay Analyzing the Caribbean Court of Justice

Introduction

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has been operating since 2005 in a dual capacity to hear appeals from Caribbean member states as well as serve as a court of original jurisdiction for interpreting the treaty creating the court itself. The intention of the creators was to provide a regional court equipped to serve as a court of last resort for member states and to further jurisprudence locally. The CCJ has adopted a unique approach to furthering the local and regional jurisprudence in the Caribbean. The court has created a teaching approach through the decisions authored by the justices on the court. This is apparent in two cases involving land disputes in Guyana. The court created roadmaps for both attorneys and judges to follow in the pursuit of justice and equality in these opinions. The cases analyzed in this essay are Watson v. Fernandes and Ramkishun v. Fung Kee Fung. Looking chronologically at the two cases, the first Watson case is the first demonstration of this mentoring approach analyzed in this essay.

Watson v. Fernandes

The facts in Watson v. Fernandes do not turn on issues of substantive property law in the nation of Guyana, but rather procedural issues of rule interpretation enforcement. A land dispute did exist between the parties and the appeal was a derivative of that suit however the CCJ is concerned with the Guyanese rules and procedures for determining which attorneys can represent a litigant before the Land Court of Guyana. Looking back to the trial level proceedings, this case started with Mr. Gladston Watson seeking to file a law suit against Rosedale Fernandes over interests in a piece of land in Guyana. Mr. Watson hired Mr. Winston Moore to file suit against Watson in the Land Court, a court comprising one portion of the Guyanese High Court. Mr. Moore accepted Watson as his client and instituted the action against Fernandes. In this process, Mr. Moore filed the appropriate forms for representing Watson consisting of an authorization signed by Watson. The Land Court accepted this form and recognized Moore as Watson's attorney. After agreeing to represent Watson and filing both suit and authorization for representation with the court, Mr. Moore accepted appointment to the judiciary meaning he could no longer represent Watson in the case against Ms. Fernandes. Watson was forced to hire another attorney to pick up where Moore had left off. Watson selected Mr. Martin Zephyr to represent him moving forward. At that time, Zephyr filled out what he thought was an authorization