Questionable Conduct: The Jamaican Political Reality

There has been talk of  behind-the- scenes moves aimed at breaking the deadlock over the three CCJ Bills. A proposed Agreement was to operate on two levels: the Government and the Opposition one one level  and the PNP and JLP on the other. Deadlock : The Government wishes the Opposition to support the CCJ Bills by voting in favour of the CCJ Bills, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. The Opposition wishes the issue of whether the Caribbean Court of Justice should replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as Jamaica's final Court of Appeal to be put to the Jamaican electorate by way of a vote. Proposed solution :  More than 50% of Opposition Members in the House of Representatives and more than 50% of the Opposition Senators in the Senate will vote in support of the CCJ Bills in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, respectively. The question to be put to the electorate: " Are you in favour of the Caribbean Court of Ju...

The CCJ Debate will most likely frazzle out being overshadowed by the election campaign and the "dead babies scandal". However are some very poignant interventions; not in the actual debate but in the discussion on the motion to remove the suspension from the service of the Senate imposed on Senator Malahoo Forte. This motion was moved and passed in the Senate on Thursday, October 29, 2015 in the absence of the Opposition Members. Senators  Mark Golding and KD Knight gave some indication of the fundamental issues constituting the crux of the debate on the three CCJ Bills. Senator Golding: "We want them to listen and to hear what we have to say on this important issue. We want to hear what they have to say on this important issue. The people of Jamaica want to hear what all Senators have to say on this important issue..... (Applause)....because it is one of the ironies , perhaps, of history, that an unelected Senate, ultimately will determine whether or not the p...

                           The CCJ debate in the Senate is in full swing: lots of distractions , drama , and rhetoric but woefully devoid of substance . We have expressed our discomfort with the decision of Jamaica’s final appellate resting solely on the vote of one Opposition Senator “exercising his conscience” and being anxious to be on “the right side of history”. One of the key elements is the role of the citizens (not their elected representatives or their appointed agents) in the making of this decision. On strict Constitutional terms there is none. The Constitutionalist : The PNP Government has decided to replace the Privy Council with the CCJ as Jamaica’s final appellate court The severing of ties with the Privy Council requires only a simple majority in both Houses. The government of the day has such a majority so that is a relatively simple exercise. Both our Supreme C...