The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) held a special sitting this morning to commemorate the elevation of Justice Winston Anderson to the office of the CCJ President.
Attorney-General John Jeremie reflected on the journey of the incoming CCJ President, as he affirmed with confidence the new leadership.
“I first met Justice Anderson when we were both university lecturers at the Faculty of Law, and that is at the University of the West Indies. Justice Anderson was based on the Cave Hill campus, and I was at the St. Augustine campus. We met regularly, but not every day and not every week. From the beginning, I was impressed with his calm demeanor and his integrity. Over the years, I came to appreciate and respect his deep commitment to the rule of law and to our Caribbean nation, to our Caribbean project. Justice Anderson spent some considerable time at the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana, as we’ve heard this morning, where he worked as General Counsel to CARICOM, an experience that no doubt has served him well here at the court. Law is the indispensable means that ensures our freedoms and the certainty of our interactions. Without it, there is anarchy. I am confident that with Justice Anderson at the helm, the Caribbean Court of Justice will discharge the mandate first given to it by heads when they signed the agreement to establish the court in Barbados in 2021, and the protocol shortly thereafter, with which it has faithfully been discharging in the 20 years from its inception. I thank Justice Anderson for his service, and on behalf of the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the region as a whole, I wish him well in navigating now the challenges that now lie before him.”