The St. Lucia Parliament on Tuesday night gave the green light for the island to have the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final and highest court, replacing the London-based Privy Council.
All 13 government legislators who were present when the vote was taken supported the motion. Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet, who had earlier walked out of the Parliament during a debate on another matter, did not participate in the CCJ debate.
According to Loop News, the St. Lucian government needed a three-fourth special majority of the 17-member Parliament to amend through the Constitution of St. Lucia Amendment Bill 2023 and, according to the Speaker Claudius Francis, the requirement was met when all 13 government members voted in support of the motion that had been tabled by Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre.
St. Lucia becomes the fifth CARICOM country to make the CCJ its final court, joining Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Dominica.
