Countries that have a domestic final appellate court have established a judicial institution over which they have control as part of the policymaking governing structure and how they view other existing and emerging extraterritorial courts will be influenced by their perception of the court and the role it will play when the policies of the governing coalition are challenged. This book analyzes that phenomenon in terms of the broader construction and understanding of the state in the era of international law, legal tribunals, and globalization. By zooming in on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), an ancient colonial court, Harold Young examines how the Caribbean Community, specifically, the 15 former British colonies comprising the Caribbean Basin are navigating their changing political environments and transitioning to its own extraterritorial court, the Caribbean Court of Justice. Using historical reviews, descriptive analyses, and statistical methodologies Young finds that the choice to retain the JCPC at independence is influenced by the colonial experience, the length of colonial rule, and how deeply embedded the JCPC is on the governing structures of the new state.

"The debate in Jamaica regarding the replacement of the Judical Committee of the the Privy Council (JCPC) with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has dominated public discussion from some time. We Want Justice documents the presentations made by representatives of government and opposition during the debate pn the resolutions tabled in the Houses of Parliament in 2003, calling on members to express their support for the ratification by Jamaica of the agreement to establish the CCJ. The presentations are accompanied by four other papers, written by persons outside of parliament, as well as a copy of the agreement establishing the CCJ. "

"What do we really know about the impending Caribbean Court of Justice? The vexed issue of the Court's establishment has been the subject of much debate but how much of this debate is informed by the facts? This book bridges the information gap and provides an authoritative guide to the composition, function and administration of this new Court. In a comprehensive yet clear and concise style, the reader is given a background to the more contentious issues such as the funding of the Court, its constitutionality, its original and appellate jurisdiction and the process of delinking from the Privy Council. The exposition and analysis is complemented by an Appendix which includes the Agreements Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice and the CCJ Trust Fund as well as the accords concerning the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission. "

"This research paper contemplates the idea of replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with a Caribbean Court of Justice. The first paragraphs will discuss the functioning of the Privy Council with a Caribbean Court of Justice. The first paragraphs will discuss the functioning of the Privy Council as well as its relationship with the Commonwealth Caribbean by giving details of its relationship since the colonial era through current times. Next, this author will discuss why there is growing popularity among the Caribbean countries to replace the Privy Council as the final court of appeal with a regional court; specifically, what has triggered this growing popularity. Furthermore, an assessment will be made of the advantages and disadvantages of instituting the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the final appellate court. In particular, I will look at how the implementation of a Caribbean Court of Justice would benefit the member countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean Studies (OECS). This will all be done in an attempt to demonstrate that by maintaining the Privy Council as the final court of appeal in the Commonwealth Caribbean a colonial type relationship is perpetuated which hampers the progress made towards regional integration." --introduction

The establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice sees the countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean at an important and exciting judicial crossroads. Debate, often acrimonious, continues over the abolishment of ties to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and, increasingly those influencing the debate are a more educated and articulate Cari

In the nineteenth century, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council held sway over the lives, liberties and property of more than a quarter of the world's inhabitants.