Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda Vote “NO” to replacing Privy Council with CCJ.

CARRIBEAN ISLANDS VOTE IN REFERENDUM ON CCJ. November 7th, 2018.

The people of Antigua and Barbuda voted on Tuesday against switching to the CCJ as the country’s final appellate court.

The results of a referendum held by the Administration of Prime Minister Gaston Browne show that of the 17,743 persons who voted,  9,234, or 52.04 percent chose to remain with the London-based Privy Council while just 8.509 or 47.96 percent wanted the CCJ.

Antigua and Barbuda, like Grenada which also held a referendum on the CCJ on Tuesday, recorded a low voter turn out.

Caribbean Court of Justice HQ

Meanwhile, Grenadians voted, for a second time within a two-year period, to reject efforts to replace the London-based Privy Council as the island’s highest court.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell said last night that he was disappointed at the results of a referendum that will not allow Grenada to join the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the island’s final court.

In a national referendum yesterday, the preliminary figures released by the Parliamentary Elections Office (PEO) show that the “No” vote secured 12,133 as compared to 9,846 for those supporting the CCJ that was established in 2001.

The CCJ also functions as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration movement, Caricom.

“The people have voted based on what they wished to see. As a serious Democrat it [result] has been accepted. I am not happy with it but that has always been my position when results of elections are given,” Mitchell said.

“I am disappointed but I am in total acceptance of the results,” he added.

After casting his ballot, an optimistic Mitchell had said he was confident of receiving the necessary two-thirds majority of the votes cast in getting Grenada to join Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana as the Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries that are full members of the CCJ.

 

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