Principal of The UWI St Augustine Campus, Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, is calling for legal independence.

Speaking at the opening of the second Caribbean Court of Justice Symposium yesterday, Professor Antoine referred to the Privy Council as a “relic of colonialism” that “we need not take with us into our future”.

Professor Antoine, former Dean of the Faculty of Law and advocate for Caribbean integration, underscored the importance of embracing the CCJ as a marker of true independence and regional identity.

She said, “The CCJ’s ability and willingness to create an indigenous Caribbean jurisprudence, adapting to our particular local circumstances, genuinely reflecting our social realities without sacrificing appropriate judicial principle, has been a long-cherished goal of legal scholars like myself.”

She also praised the court’s integrity and independence stating, “The arrangements for protecting the independence and integrity of the CCJ are among the finest in the world. In fact, UK jurists themselves have remarked on this.”

Themed “Advancing the Case for Regionalism and Indigenous Jurisprudence” the symposium was a collaboration involving The UWI, the Law Association of T&T and the Greek Embassy in Panama.

It brought together jurists, legal scholars and students to reflect on the future of Caribbean jurisprudence and the region’s final appellate court.