Former Jamaica attorney general, A J Nicholson, has told judges of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that “public bickering” must be shunned.
Nicholson said it was never the intention that “the CCJ was being created to provide its judges with a platform for public bickering.
“There was never even the slightest thought that personality issues that would normally arise between or among the judges, hardly combatants, would not be approached and resolved in mature, empathetic fashion by experienced judicial minds whose remit encompasses the resolution of taxing contentious questions within the wide-ranging scope of the original and appellate jurisdictions of the court.”
The former foreign affairs minister served as deputy to the former Chief Justice of Barbados, Sir David Simmonds and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley when they served as the first and second chairperons of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice,
“As Jamaica’s then attorney-general, I was privileged to serve as the deputy to both, and was tasked with updating the meetings of heads of government over time on the progress of the Committee’s ongoing deliberations conducted under the practiced eye of Dr Kenny Anthony, the head of government then in charge of the justice portfolio.
“Jamaica’s regrettable neglect to fulfil its treaty obligation to accede fully to the CCJ has perhaps left me appropriately placed to share with the judges of the court and the public some of the thinking and understandings by which those deliberations and reports to the meetings of heads of government were guided.”
Nicholson said that he was “also persuaded to take this route of communicating because it is the route that was adopted in recent leaks of the judges’ private correspondence in Port-of-spain.
“To cut to the chase, it was never at any time a part of any thinking in those deliberations or reports to the meetings of heads of government that the CCJ was being created to provide its judges with a platform for public bickering.”
In August, CCJ president, Justice Winston Anderson, responded to reports of allegations of internal tensions and judicial panel manipulation at the Trinidad-based regional court, strongly rejecting claims that panels were altered to influence case outcomes.
In a detailed statement, Justice Anderson condemned the unauthorised leaking of confidential court communications, saying it undermines judicial independence and public confidence.
He explained that a decision to remove a judge from a panel was based solely on concerns over judicial attire and not the judge’s views on a case.
The CCJ president also denied attempts to influence judgments, defended robust disagreements among judges as part of normal appellate court deliberations, but acknowledged that he could have handled some matters differently.
The allegations stem from emails published by Trinidad and Tobago’s Sunday Express, which said it had obtained the leaked internal correspondence.
The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) has since acknowledged allegations concerning Justice Anderson announcing that a “transparent and indepen dent review” will be undertaken into the matter.
But earlier this month, the Sunday Express newspaper published yet another story claiming that a sitting judge now accusing Justice Anderson of abusing his authority.
The newspaper reported that Justice Peter Jamadar has accused the CCJ president of administrative overreach after Jamadar’s administrative officer, identified as Ms. Simmons-Peters, was questioned about her outside activities under the cover of an internal investigation into a media leak.
Jamadar alleges she was warned she could face up to two years in prison under Trinidad and Tobago’s Computer Misuse Act, and that her files and communications were scrutinized as part of the probe.
In a six-page email reportedly sent to Anderson and fellow judges on September 4, Justice Jamadar dscribed the episode as “abuse of power,” arguing that Justice Anderson should not have had oversight of an inquiry that reached into his staff’s conduct.
The Sunday Express reported that another CCJ judge, Justice Rajnauth-Lee, received a similarly worded email as part of the same investigation, which was led by the court’s IT manager, identified as Mr. Burgess.
In his “Open Letter,” Nicholson said that there was “deep concern that the working environment for the judges should be accommodating, with protective guardrails provided to insulate them from political and other powerful kinds of pressure.
“The creative, some say revolutionary, mechanisms that were devised, namely, the provisions for the appointment of the judges and for financing of the court, while serving to ease irritating burdens that normally devolve on judicial operations, have also reaped plaudits internationally.”
Nicholson said that “unyielding confidence that the kind of legal and judicial skills abounded within the region to provide the core complement of judges whose judgments would receive global acclaim has gratifyingly proved to have been well placed”.
He said that during the formative years, the spurious far-flung assertion of a hanging court being created had to be faced and successfully debunked.
“Now, the CCJ, having found a respected place alongside other apex courts globally within two decades of its evolutionary existence – a mountain of an achievement – is met with the mischief-making challenge of the leaking of private internal correspondence of the judges.
Nicholson said that the vision was that “our Caribbean history and circumstance mandated that the regional final court would serve both as a temple of justice and as an example and leadership guide in all spheres of emancipatory efforts and development within our hemispheric space.
“There was certainly no expectation of petulant mischief-making leaks and public bickering!
Nothing of the sort falls within the collegial functions of any judge and, respectfully, must be shunned!,” Nicholson wrote.
The following is the full text of the “Open Letter” written by the former Jamaica attorney general A J Nicholson.
“This is an open letter:
To the Judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
PUBLIC BICKERING MUST BE SHUNNED!
The first Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice was then attorney-general David Simmonds, later Chief Justice of Barbados.
He was succeeded by then attorney-general Mia Mottley, later Prime Minister of Barbados.
As Jamaica’s then attorney-general, I was privileged to serve as the deputy to both, and was tasked with updating the meetings of heads of government over time on the progress of the Committee’s ongoing deliberations conducted under the practiced eye of Dr Kenny Anthony, the head of government then in charge of the justice portfolio.
Jamaica’s regrettable neglect to fulfil its treaty obligation to accede fully to the CCJ has perhaps left me appropriately placed to share with the judges of the court and the public some of the thinking and understandings by which those deliberations and reports to the meetings of heads of government were guided.
I was also persuaded to take this route of communicating because it is the route that was adopted in recent leaks of the judges’ private correspondence in Port-of-spain.
To cut to the chase, it was never at any time a part of any thinking in those deliberations or reports to the meetings of heads of government that the CCJ was being created to provide its judges with a platform for public bickering.
There was deep concern that the working environment for the judges should be accommodating, with protective guardrails provided to insulate them from political and other powerful kinds of pressure.
The creative, some say revolutionary, mechanisms that were devised, namely, the provisions for the appointment of the judges and for financing of the court, while serving to ease irritating burdens that normally devolve on judicial operations, have also reaped plaudits internationally.
Unyielding confidence that the kind of legal and judicial skills abounded within the region to provide the core complement of judges whose judgments would receive global acclaim has gratifyingly proved to have been well placed.
During the formative years, the spurious far-flung assertion of a hanging court being created had to be faced and successfully debunked.
Now, the CCJ, having found a respected place alongside other apex courts globally within two decades of its evolutionary existence – a mountain of an achievement – is met with the mischief-making challenge of the leaking of private internal correspondence of the judges.
There was never even the slightest thought that personality issues that would normally arise between or among the judges, hardly combatants, would not be approached and resolved in mature, empathetic fashion by experienced judicial minds whose remit encompasses the resolution of taxing contentious questions within the wide-ranging scope of the original and appellate jurisdictions of the court.
The vision was that our Caribbean history and circumstance mandated that the regional final court would serve both as a temple of justice and as an example and leadership guide in all spheres of emancipatory efforts and development within our hemispheric space.
There was certainly no expectation of petulant mischief-making leaks and public bickering!
Nothing of the sort falls within the collegial functions of any judge and, respectfully, must be shunned!
AJ NICHOLSON ”
CMC/pr/ir/2026