PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - Caribbean leaders inaugurated a court Saturday that will serve as the highest judicial body for much of the region, a step toward shedding their 170-year-old dependence on Britain's Privy Council that many have resented as a vestige of colonialism.
Saturday's inauguration came after years of delays and despite political and legal obstacles still facing several countries trying to remove themselves from the jurisdiction of the London-based Privy Council.``It's a birth that has not been without complications,'' said Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide.
Advocates say the Trinidad-based court will bolster sovereignty in a region where many countries gained independence less than four decades ago and other islands are still European territories.
``Today more than any other tastes like true emancipation. If a people cannot trust themselves to dispense justice upon themselves, what worth are they?'' St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony told a gathered crowd.
The Privy Council's Judicial Committee is the court of final appeal for British overseas territories and for those Commonwealth countries that have retained the appeal to the committee. Five judges normally sit to hear Commonwealth appeals and three for other matters.
Critics of the new court include Caribbean opposition politicians who complain it will be vulnerable to political pressure and rights activists who warn it will open the door for governments to resume executions.
The Privy Council has overturned death sentences in several countries, and last year ruled that Jamaica's mandatory death penalty for murder convictions was unconstitutional.
The Caribbean court will hear civil and criminal appeals arising out of national courts and settle trade disputes stemming from the Caribbean single-market economy, which the region's leaders hope to launch this year. Twelve Caribbean states, mostly former British colonies, are taking steps to adopt the court, though some will only turn to it in limited cases.
Only Guyana and Barbados have completed legislation need to adopt is as their final civil and criminal appellate court. Jamaica and Trinidad are mired in political battles over the court, while other countries are facing administrative difficulties.
De la Bastide insisted Friday several measures will ensure the court's independence, including a board of trustees to manage the justices' salaries and other operational costs, which are expected to be about $6 million a year. The justices are chosen by the Caribbean Community's commission on judiciary affairs.
De la Bastide said it was difficult to predict when the first case would be heard.
