There should be a nationwide referendum to determine T&T’s final court of appeal. This was the unanimous view of the panellists at a public education programme on whether the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) should replace the Privy Council as the final court of appeal at Gaston Court, Chaguanas, yesterday.
The forum, hosted by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC, was held to help inform the public of the need for a referendum on the issue and panellists included former prime minister Basdeo Panday, former MP Mickela Panday, Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner and leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah.
All the panellists stressed that before the Government can abolish the Privy Council and use the CCJ as the final court of appeal, it must first get a nationwide referendum. Mickela Panday said before there could be a verdict on the issue there should be a decision on who gets to make that choice: the government of the day or the people.
“The answer is simple, it is the people. The Caribbean Court of Justice should not replace the Privy Council without a general vote by the electorate on that single issue,” she said. Noting that there is mistrust locally in the legal and judicial agencies, Panday (M) questioned if it was wise to make such a drastic change to the judicial system without public approval.
“Can it safely be said that public confidence in our institutions, the Government itself, the regulatory agencies, the police service, the health service to name a few, is so high that Parliament ought to take a bold step without the public approval of the people themselves?” she said. While a referendum is important, Basdeo Panday emphasised that there should be a total education programme around the issues with the two courts of appeal. This way, he said the citizens would be well informed while voting on the matter.
“In order to ensure that the decision truly reflects the wishes of the people, they must know and they must understand the issues that are involved. We must educate the people in all aspects of this matter,” Panday (B) said. Describing a referendum as a direct vote of the people, Panday said the referendum question must also be simple and straight froward.
“There is nothing more powerful nor more just in a democracy. In a referendum, you submit it in its simplest form for the people to answer,” he said. “The ballot paper, I suggest humbly, if we are going for a referendum, the question on a referendum must be short, simple, precise and exact. “The ballot paper in this case must ask the simple question, ‘Do you agree that the Privy Council should be abolished as the final court of appeal in Trinidad and Tobago?’ That and that alone must be asked.”
Arguing that the public had lost confidence in the country’s justice system, Panday said by involving the people in the decision there would be a stronger sense of ownership and faith in the CCJ. Panday said the people must have faith in the justice system or people would seek their own form of justice. He noted that people have been harming and murdering their neighbours over legal issues like property boundary lines.
“If people do not have confidence in the law then they will take it into their own hands...Confidence in the courts is a must for every civilised society,” Panday said.
No respect for law
Warner also stated that there should be an education drive in order for there to be a fair referendum. “People should not just be asked to vote for or against the Privy Council, but you have to educate them. Let them know the good the bad and the ugly. Far too often people vote on issues and they do not know what they are voting for,” Warner said.
Warner noted that there is a lot of opportunity for there to be bias and political interference by the judges. He said a perception currently exists that all of our institutions had been compromised. “You have to go to the Privy Council, which is detached from the Caribbean society, to get justice,” he said.
Abdulah, who was the only speaker for the CCJ becoming the final court of appeal, said there needs be constitutional reform first, to make referendums legal, before the government removes the Privy Council. He said if there was greater participation from the citizens in government issues, the political systems and the country would regain their faith in the justice system.