The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will host one of its travelling sittings in Saint Lucia for the first time in its 21-year history.
The sittings will be held on Tuesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 8, 2026, marking the opening of the 2026/2027 judicial year.
These travelling sittings have previously been held in Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and Jamaica. They allow the CCJ to sit and conduct court proceedings in any country that is a party to the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Saint Lucia became the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state to accede to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction in 2023.
Sittings held throughout the region are intended to allow citizens to see the Court at work as part of its mission to provide “accessible, efficient and substantive justice for the people and states of the Caribbean Community”.
According to a release from the CCJ, the sittings can also reduce travel costs for attorneys and litigants. CCJ President, Justice Winston Anderson, asserted that the sittings enable “the people of the region to see us, interact with us, and realise that we are in fact their kith and kin, and part and parcel of the fabric of their society”.
While in Saint Lucia, the full seven-member CCJ Bench will hear three matters originating from Saint Lucia, Guyana, and Belize, respectively, while also delivering judgments in two matters from Belize.
The public can view a livestream of the sittings on the CCJ’s website, social media platforms, and YouTube channel. Information on the matters to be heard is also available in the Schedule of Court Sittings on the CCJ’s website.
Additionally, the Court will pay courtesy calls on Acting Governor-General Felix Finisterre; Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre; Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Margaret Price Findlay; Attorney General Leslie Vincent Mondesir; and Leader of the Opposition Allen Chastanet.
