THE COUNCIL of Presidents of the Private Sector wants the Government to reconsider having a referendum, prior to signing the agreement for the setting up of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The Council said this was necessary to ensure that the Government's actions, vis-a-vis the Court, would truly reflect the will of the people.
In a news release issued yesterday, the Council said it was disturbed that the Government, by using its majority in the House of Representatives, had got approval for Jamaica to sign the agreement next February, prior to ascertaining the views of the nation.
"It is our considered view that while there are merits in having this Caribbean institution, there are still some important concerns being raised by fellow Jamaicans which should certainly be addressed prior to signing the agreement in Trinidad. These include the effectiveness and role of the existing justice system and whether we should be putting our financial resources into improving our own system. We know that the public has strong views on this issue, as was evident at a public forum organised by the PSOJ earlier this year," the release said.
The Council said that such an important decision should adequately reflect the views of the Jamaican people, thus it would be pointless to determine the will of the nation through a referendum after the agreement has been signed.
Meanwhile Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson says the Govern-ment was prepared to defend itself against any Court action, arising from its role in the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
"As we continue to strive for consensus on this important issue, the Government is prepared to meet the stated challenges of the Opposition or any other body in the Courts," Mr. Nicholson said in a statement issued by his Ministry on Thursday.
He said the establishment of a final appellate court and the entrenchment of that court were separate issues.
"It may very well be that it is eminently desirable that such a court should be entrenched in our Constitution and not be anchored by an ordinary constitutional provision. If we all agree that it should be entrenched, then our present constitutional arrangements require that a referendum be held, because the amendment section of the Constitution would itself have to be amended and this can be achieved only by means of a referendum.
"Such an agreement would spare us of a sure way of further dividing us as a people. Any referendum to remove ourselves from the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, or to establish another final appellate court, would mean that there would be a political campaign which would take its colour and character from the way our partisan political campaigns are conducted in Jamaica.
"This would only serve to create further partisan divide, in circumstances where there is no constitutional or legal requirement for a referendum to be held concerning such issues."
He said, however, that the Government was still prepared to consider any suggestion on how the agreement for the establishment of the Court may be structured or improved.
