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Eighth Ordinary Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee
(LAC) was held at the Krasnapolsky Hotel Paramaribo,
Suriname on 11 February, 2005 under the chairmanship
of H.E. Mr. Siegfried F. Gilds, Minister of Justice
and Police of the Republic of Suriname. Representatives
from eight Member States participated in the Meeting
and Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Kitts
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago
were represented at the level of Attorney-General. Participants
from the CARICOM and OECS Secretariats and the University
of the West Indies also shared in the deliberations
of the Meeting.
The
Meeting considered a range of issues including the
CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Caribbean
Court of Justice (CCJ), the CARICOM Charter of Civil
Society, Reform of Legal Education in the Caribbean,
CARICOM-US negotiations on enforcement of child-support
obligations, legal issues relating to Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) and the candidature
of Sir Kenneth Keith for the International Court of
Justice.
The
LAC received a report from the Thirteenth Meeting
of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment
of the Caribbean Court of Justice (PREPCOM) also met
on 11 February, 2005 in Paramaribo, Suriname under
the Chairmanship of the Hon. A. J. Nicholson, Attorney-General
of Jamaica. Focus was given to a range of issues including
the enactment of legislative instruments relating
to the CCJ and legal issues affecting the inauguration
of the Court. Specific focus was given to the matter
of litigation in Jamaica as it related to the decision
of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on
the CCJ.
The PREPCOM also cleared the Protocol to the Agreement
Establishing the CCJ Relating to the Tenure of Judges,
Rules of Court, Financial Arrangements and Withdrawal
from the Agreement, for signature by Heads of Government
at their Sixteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting.
The Declaration of Compliance with
the CARICOM Single Market Programme of Removal of
Restrictions to be signed by the Governments of Barbados,
Jamaica, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was
also finalised. This Instrument signals the accelerated
implementation of measures to establish the Single
Market and Economy by those Member States. Heads of
Government had previously decided at their Fourteenth
Inter-Sessional Meeting, to remove the restrictions
relating to the establishment of the CARICOM Single
Market regime by 31 December 2005.
A report was received from representatives
of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
on the Punishment and Violations of Humanitarian Law
at the International Level. The Region was urged to
sign, enact and implement, as the case may require,
relevant international Instruments including the Rome
Statute on the International Criminal Court, the Biological
Weapons Convention and the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Landmines
Convention. Continued technical assistance was offered
by the ICRC to the Region in this regard, particularly
as it related to the development of model legislation
to enact the above international instruments into
domestic law.
A presentation was received from Mr.
Christopher Dehring, Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer, ICC World Cup W.I. 2007 on draft legislation
relating to the World Cup to be held in the Region
in 2007. The Meeting received a first draft of the
ICC World Cup Cricket West Indies 2007 Act. This Act,
also referred to as sunset legislation, is necessary
to facilitate the efficient and effective hosting
of Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 matches and events,
as well as to meet requirements set out in the respective
Bid Books of Member States. The Act addresses a range
of issues including security, customs and immigration
matters, ambush marketing, taxation, events management
and other operational aspects of the CWC. This Act
should be fully operational by no later than 1 November
2006. Arrangements were made to finalise and enact
this legislation by 1 June 2005.
The LAC thanked the government and
people of the Republic of Suriname for their warm
hospitality and for the excellent arrangements put
in place for the conduct of the business of its Meeting.
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