Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismiss appeal over 2014 treaty matter

On Tuesday the CCJ dismissed the appeal in the matter of Roosevelt Skerrit & Others vs Antoine Defoe & Others from 2014.

Mervin John Baptiste, Antoine Defoe, and Edincot St. Valle had filed complaints against all 15 elected candidates of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) after the 2014 general election claiming they were involved in treating leading up to the election which the DLP won 15-6 against the United Workers Party (UWP).

The high court ruled that the magistrate did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter; however, in a 2-1 majority decision, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court dismissed the high court’s decision and remitted the matter back to the high court.

The CCJ has now dismissed the DLP appeal of that decision.

Hon. Justice Anderson.

Meantime Attorney for the Antoine Defoe et al Cara Shillingford describes the CCJ decision as a major victory.

She hopes the decision will inspire others to pursue other matters in the courts.

And her colleague Wayne Marsh says the decision holds implications for other islands with political systems like Dominica’s.

Attorney at Law Wayne Marsh.