by Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorPRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson and Opposition Leader Edward Seaga, may not be too far off on the logistics of having a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and could themselves decide on the appropriate route to take, Attorney-General, A.J. Nicholson ,said yesterday.
Mr. Nicholson, who is also a Government Senator and Minister of Justice, was responding to a question on whether the Government would accept an offer of support from the Opposition in exchange for having a referendum on the CCJ. The gesture was made from the Senate floor on Friday by Opposition Senator, Bruce Golding.
"Give us the undertaking that if we vote with you, you will do a referendum," Mr. Golding challenged. "I would never want to give you the impression that we are holding back. I can speak for this side... I think I can speak for the entire Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)... that we will support you, if, before the court convenes its first sitting, the people's view will be sought." Senator Nicholson said he was not in a position to give such an undertaking.
Contacted by The Gleaner on the weekend, Mr. Nicholson elaborated. "I could not give such an undertaking," he reiterated. "What should happen is for the two leaders to meet... anywhere... even in the woodlands... they should be able to work it out."
He continued: "I heard Mr. Golding saying that the JLP, if returned to power, would call for a referendum to decide whether to stay with the CCJ... if it is in place that is. Now, this is very important as it is the first time we are hearing them take this position. It has always been that they would abolish the CCJ if and whenever they form the Government. This would simply mean that only the referendum stands between our positions. Well, I say let the leaders meet and decide... let them talk and work it out. You say you want a referendum lets get this done. They need to meet more often anyway."
Asked whether the fact that the Senate voted in favour of the CCJ wasn't a clear indicator that the days of having the English-based privy council as the country's final court of appeal were over, Mr. Nicholson said "no, its not inevitable...the lower House still has to vote... there are still ways to go."
And responding to comments from Opposition Senator Shirley Williams that the Government lacked consensus in moving forward on the CCJ, Mr. Nicholson said the matter was debatable. "I move around the country a lot and it's not true that everybody is against us," he said. "The Opposition speaks as if the entire Bar Association is with them on this which is not true. I speak to a lot of lawyers and they are not all taking the Opposition's position."
Ms. Williams, from the Senate floor, last Friday said "You are all alone on this... you don't have a consensus anywhere in the country... nobody is with you; not civil society, not the Bar Association, not the human rights groups. You have nobody."
