Jamaican Bar Association (JAMBAR) President Kevin Powell says the swearing-in of Justice Chantal Ononaiwu as the second Jamaican on the Bench of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is a strong signal for the Government to part ways with the Judicial Committee of the United Kingdom Privy Council.

According to Powell, JAMBAR, which has on several occasions publicly stated its position on the matter, recently met with Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte in a bid to have the Administration restate its view on the matter.

“I think that Chantal’s appointment further confirms and strengthens our view that we should accede to the jurisdiction. She is in fact the second Jamaican judge on the CCJ, so I think this is an opportune time for us to again look to formalise our position, certainly in relation to the CCJ, and acceding to that jurisdiction,” Powell told the
Jamaica Observer on Tuesday, moments after the official swearing-in ceremony at King’s House in St Andrew.

The CCJ was inaugurated in April 2005 and has an Original and an Appellate Jurisdiction. In its Original Jurisdiction, it is an international court with exclusive jurisdiction to interpret and apply the rules set out in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) and to decide disputes arising under it. Jamaica is a signatory to the court in its Original Jurisdiction but not in its Appellate Jurisdiction.

In its Appellate Jurisdiction, the CCJ is the final court of appeal for criminal and civil matters for countries in the Caribbean that alter their national constitutions to enable the CCJ to perform that role.

Presently, only five Caricom States — Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, and Saint Lucia — access the court in its Appellate Jurisdiction.

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) and the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have been deadlocked over the issue. The PNP has said it wants both the removal of the British monarch as head of State and dropping the Privy Council in favour of the CCJ as the nation’s final court to be addressed at the same time, and not on a phased basis as the Government has proposed under the ongoing Constitutional Reform process.

On Tuesday, Powell said the Constitutional Reform Committee, which was formed in 2023 to provide expert guidance to the Government on the revision of Jamaica’s constitutional arrangements on the way to becoming a republic, should urgently rethink its proposal for a phased approach.

“Members of the bar council’s executive met with the minister and we put forward our position as an association and we invited the minister to indicate the Government’s position on our ascension to the CCJ (in its final appellate jurisdiction), so we are eagerly awaiting the articulation of their position and it is something we have on our agenda to revisit with the minister,” he told the Observer.

Earlier this month, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes urged lawyers to use their collective power to shift the balance in favour of the CCJ as Jamaica’s final court of appeal.

“What you can do is begin to use the positions of influence that you have to educate persons about the court… speak more about the court, publicly, whenever you get the opportunity to speak — not anecdotal evidence but factual evidence about the court — so that persons can understand how the court was established, how it operates, its decision-making and the quality of its judgments; because at some point, the delinking has to come,” he said, in arguing that the CCJ is “the natural and inevitable endpoint of a system of West Indian legal education”.

On Tuesday, CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders, in his remarks, hailed Justice Ononaiwu’s expertise in international law and more specifically her proficiency in international trade law.

He said Justice Ononaiwu was selected from a pool of 12 applicants from countries such as The Bahamas, Canada, Suriname, Great Britain, Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago.

“She has appeared as counsel before the CCJ in many of the court’s seminal cases dealing with the CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy). She has experience in adjudicating WTO (World Trade Organization) international trade disputes. The job she previously held involved negotiating international trade issues on behalf of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Indeed, she led the coordination of Caricom’s external trade policy,” he said, adding, “Caricom’s undoubted massive loss is the CCJ’s gain, but I venture to suggest that the region would benefit even more greatly from her tenure on the court.”

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in describing Justice Ononaiwu’s appointment as an “extraordinary achievement”, said “her journey is a testament to dedication, resilience and a remarkable pursuit of excellence”.

“She has built a legacy of scholarship and achievement that we celebrate today,” he said.

According to Holness, the accomplished jurist is an “asset to the judicial landscape” and a true inspiration.

“Your dedication, service, resilience and commitment to excellence embody the very best of our shared heritage, reminding us of the profound impact that purposeful ambition, steadfast moves, and discipline can have on our communities,” the prime minister said.

Justice Ononaiwu’s appointment fills the vacancy left by Justice Jacob Wit, one of the first judges appointed to the court, who retired in December 2023 and passed in January 2024.

Justice Ononaiwu, who has more than 20 years of legal experience, has a dynamic background which includes roles as an adjudicator, litigator, legal advisor, and university lecturer. She also has significant expertise in commercial law, having worked in the international business and financial services sector as the director of value proposition development at Invest Barbados. Additionally, she served as vice-chair of the International Chamber of Commerce Digital Standards Initiative Legal Reform Advisory Board.

She has also lectured on international trade and investment law, public international law, and criminal law at The University of the West Indies. Prior to her appointment to the CCJ, she served as director of external trade at the Caricom Secretariat and previously as a trade policy and legal specialist.