-appeals for long-promised reforms
CARICOM Heads of Government should make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the region’s final appellate court and concentrate on delivering a handful of long-promised reforms that would make regional integration meaningful for ordinary citizens, St. Lucian Rhodes Scholar Rahym Augustin-Joseph said on Sunday.
In an address that was at times scathing, Augustin-Joseph told the opening ceremony of the 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in St Lucia that while the Caribbean has built institutions worthy of pride, political leaders have been too slow in implementing decisions that matter to citizens.
“Our journey remains incomplete,” he declared, urging leaders to place accession to the CCJ’s appellate jurisdiction “back on the proverbial table.”
Only five CARICOM member states—Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana and St. Lucia—currently recognise the CCJ as their final court of appeal, while the remaining members continue to retain the UK Privy Council in London.
Describing himself through the ideals that have shaped his public life, the University of the West Indies valedictorian, first-class law graduate, youth advocate and public commentator argued that the region must have greater confidence in institutions it has built for itself.
“It is this CARICOM that has created the Caribbean Court of Justice, both in its original and appellate jurisdiction, ensuring that justice is available to all irrespective of their socioeconomic circumstances,” he said. “Our justice is therefore no longer coming, in some instances, from London, but from Port of Spain.”
He said the CCJ had already demonstrated its value through its landmark 2013 ruling in the Shanique Myrie case, which established that CARICOM nationals have the right to enter member states without a visa for up to six months and are entitled to hassle-free entry unless legitimate security concerns exist.
The ruling arose after Jamaican national Shanique Myrie was subjected to prolonged interrogation, an invasive body search, detention in unsanitary conditions and deportation from Barbados in 2011.
According to Augustin-Joseph, the judgment confirmed that Caribbean citizens have the right to move throughout the Community “without harassment, without impediment,” strengthening the sense of regional belonging that integration was intended to create.
Tragedy
While praising CARICOM’s achievements—from the establishment of the University of the West Indies to its advocacy on climate change and reform of the international financial architecture—he warned that the pace of integration had failed to match the aspirations of younger Caribbean people.
“The tragedy is not that the people of this region do not have a regional conscience,” he said. “The tragedy is that the institutions are moving slower than the conscience of these people.”
He argued that many young people remain frustrated by barriers that continue to limit opportunities across the region despite decades of promises.
“They’re frustrated by the duplicitous process in the CSME (CARICOM Single Market and Economy). They’re hampered by transportation woes. They’re affected by high taxes on airlines,” he said.
Augustin-Joseph urged leaders not to leave St Lucia with another lengthy list of ambitious commitments but instead to focus on “a few transformational low-hanging fruits” that have remained unresolved for decades.
“I ask you to not overly promise the most ambitious plans after the next few days but focus on a few transformational low-hanging fruits that for decades have hampered this institution,” he said.
Chief among those priorities, he said, should be the full implementation of freedom of movement throughout the Community.
“We know that without movement of people there is no integration,” he said.
To achieve that objective, he called on governments to repair the region’s transport system, remove what he described as the duplication surrounding the CARICOM Skills Certificate process, harmonise qualifications across member states, modernise vocational certification and introduce incentives for returning Caribbean nationals.
“We must remove the duplicity of the processes and the qualifications in our skills certificate. We must ensure uniformity and harmony,” he said.
He also challenged what he described as unfounded, fears surrounding free movement, saying leaders should confront claims that easier movement of Caribbean nationals would increase crime, dilute national cultures or overwhelm domestic labour markets.
“People move where gaps exist. They contribute to the economy,” he said, noting that several CARICOM countries with ageing populations increasingly require skilled workers from elsewhere in the region.
Stronger
Among his other recommendations were stronger partnerships with Canada and the African continent, treating food security as both a national and regional security issue and ensuring the Caribbean is not bypassed by advances in artificial intelligence.
However, some of Augustine-Joseph’s strongest criticism was directed at CARICOM’s own record of implementation.
“The Achilles heel of this integration movement is not a deficit of ideas,” he said. “There is not a single issue within this region that this integration movement has not pronounced upon.”
Instead, he said, leaders should confront the reasons why decisions repeatedly fail to be implemented, whether because of insufficient political will, limited technical capacity or inadequate stakeholder support.
He also appealed for governments to handle disagreements with greater maturity, saying recent public disputes had weakened confidence in the regional project.
“We have traded the revered maturity of regional politics for a mimicry of 280 characters on social media,” he said, remarking that young people were increasingly left wondering whether they were “watching Love Island USA or… regional integration.”
While acknowledging that disagreements among member states were inevitable, Augustine-Joseph urged leaders to resolve differences privately and preserve institutions built over generations.
“We are all allowed to disagree without being disagreeable,” he said.
“What is not… within the spirit of this family is waking up tomorrow morning cursing your sisters and brothers… not dealing with the differences of this movement within house, and attempting to break the toys or our institutions that our godfathers and parents have left for us.”
He reminded leaders that CARICOM had always succeeded by reconciling competing national interests rather than allowing them to fracture regional unity.
“We cannot only love CARICOM when we have our way and when we win,” he said.
As Heads of Government began two days of deliberations, Augustin-Joseph urged them to ensure that this generation remembers CARICOM as the institution that “met the moment” rather than one that allowed another opportunity for deeper regional integration to pass.
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