The book ³EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT: MODEL REGIONAL COURT² was launched last Friday in St. Lucia by its publishers the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), headquartered there; following its printing by the Government Printery of Dominica .
Among those attending the launch were Chief Justice, Sir Brian Alleyne, several other OECS Judges, UWI Law Faculty Dean Professor, Simeon Mc Intosh and Former Dean Professor Emeritus, A.R. Carnegie.
The book , 458 textual pages and 57 prefatory pages, is a comprehensive analysis of the performance of the Court, over its first forty years, 1967 2007.
The vision for doing this study came from Sir Brian who perceived the need for a wholistic analysis of the work of the Court .
Sir Brian asked Dr. Alexis to write the book; and UWI Law Faculty Library Professor Senator Velma Newton to edit it.
Addressing the launch, Dr. Alexis said that certain decisions of ECSC, are certainly to be criticised . But this, he observed, is true of any court.
What is important, Alexis emphasised, is the overall performance of ECSC. Alexis observed that ECSC has been responding judiciously to such challenges as Anguilla secessionism 1967, the Grenada Revolution 1979 and the Maurice Bishop murder re-sentencing 2007.
Also, Alexis added, ECSC has been modernising its civil procedure to better serve justice; cherishing its independence; and preserving its integrity.
In short, overall, Alexis concluded that the Court has been producing an admirable jurisprudence, commanding respect, promoting pride in the Eastern Caribbean , building itself as a model regional court.
Professor Sen. Velma Newton told the launch that Alexis¹ book is ³the first of its kind in the Commonwealth Caribbean ³ and she hailed it as an ³outstanding contribution to the legal literature of the region².
Dr. Alexis was accompanied to the launch by his main GBSS motivator, Osbert Benjamin and his life-long friend and law-partner, Anselm Clouden .
Clouden claims interference in judicial process
Local attorney Anselm Clouden has claimed that the justice system in Grenada is gradually grinding to a halt.
In giving the media an update about his efforts to have Capital Bank International Limited pay one of the bank¹s depositor¹s, David Mc Intosh from Limlair, Carriacou the sum of one million dollars, Clouden charged that there is unprecedented interference with the due process of the law.
Clouden¹s Law Firm, Grenlaw Chambers has been embattled with Capital Bank since last year to have the bank return Mc Intosh¹s money which he deposited to the bank on March 3, 2007.
Chairman and Managing Director of Capital Bank, Finton De Bourg is allegedly in violation of a court order handed down last November by High Court Judge, Justice Francis Cumberbatch to pay the money to Mc Intosh.
The penal notice of the court order says, ³take notice if you Capital Bank International Limited fails to comply with the terms of this order, proceedings may be commenced for contempt of court and you, Finton De Bourg may be liable to imprisonment or to have an order of sequestration made in respect of your property.²
Clouden said that for the past two weeks his law firm has been trying to get a date for the court application ³to have Mr. De Bourg cited before the Supreme Court of Grenada for contempt of court.²
³We have been trying unrelentlessly to secure a date from the registry, and if by this and the end of the week we do not receive a date, the Chief Justice would be advised accordingly,² he remarked.
Clouden disclosed that quite recently he received a call from a senior person within the Ministry of Finance requesting to have the list of all of the depositors who have complained and now have pending actions against Capital Bank.
According to him, the individual from the Ministry of Finance whom he refused to identify to the media, claim that ³they have been instructed to do something.²
However, Clouden said that before he can make the list of the disgruntled Capital Bank depositors available to the Ministry of Finance he must first have their consent.
³But I am calling on the Prime Minister to address the nation on Capital Bank International,² he said.
The outspoken attorney indicated that the continued operation of Capital Bank is causing the Eastern Caribbean (EC) dollar to now be looked at with some measure of uncertainty.
³There is concern throughout the region. I have just returned from St. Lucia where people there are concerned. I had the good fortune to have met very fleetingly, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia. People are concerned as to what is happening with Capital Bank International,² he said.
According to Clouden, if there is a run on Capital Bank the EC dollar will be significantly weakened, unless the government steps in to guarantee depositors their money.
The outspoken attorney has charged that Capital Bank is operating in a manner inconsistent with the requirements of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank..