A January 20th 2025 judgment delivered by the High Court crushed further attempts by some to reverse Saint Lucia’s move to the Caribbean Court of Justice in August 2023. This time, the claim filed by Yann Gustave and Felix Deterville, questioned the legality of previous legislation enacted by the Parliament in their hopes of returning Saint Lucia to the Privy Council.
Let’s break it down:
In 2005, the Parliament enacted the Attorney General (Constitutional Reference) Act which allows the AG to ask the Court’s opinion in deciphering complex legal and constitutional questions. It was this legislation which permitted the AG in 2013 to pose the question of acceding to the CCJ to the Court of Appeal.
In that opinion in 2013, the Court by a majority decision, found that Saint Lucia does not require a referendum to replace the London-based Privy Council with the Trinidad-based CCJ. Rather, a two-thirds majority agreement by Parliament MPs would be sufficient to replace the PC.
Gustave and Deterville argued that the Attorney General’s (Constitutional Reference) Act 2005 was itself unconstitutional; that the opinion of the Appeals Court in 2013 deriving from this act was null and void; and that, accordingly, a referendum should have been called for Saint Lucia’s move to the CCJ.
Their claims were dismissed.
Reasoned Justice Pariagsingh, “The Court holds that…there was no need for a referendum to be held before the Constitution was amended to replace Saint Lucia’s final appellate court from the JCPC to the CCJ.”
The move by Gustave and Deterville is an evolution of sentiments expressed by Saint Lucia’s main opposition party, the United Workers’ Party, that the government should have called a referendum to gain the public’s approval before replacing the Privy Council.
On February 28th, 2023, the UWP led by its Political Leader Allen Chastanet, organised a protest outside the House of Parliament, where MPs would be meeting to vote on the amendment to the Constitution required to replace the PC with the CCJ. Under the mantra, “No Referendum, No CCJ” – or some variation of that – UWP supporters marched from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition at Pointe Seraphine to Laborie Street, Castries.
There, Chastanet expressed his strong disapproval of the move: “There are several reasons why a referendum on this issue would be appropriate. First and foremost, a referendum would ensure that the decision is made democratically and transparently. While it is ultimately up to the government to decide whether to adopt the CCJ as the final court of appeal, this decision should not be made without the input and consent of the people,” he said.
One of the claimants to the suit, Felix Deterville, popularly known as ‘Champagne’, is a public supporter of the UWP and host on skyfm.com, a seemingly pro-UWP online radio station. Notable, however, is that UWP leader Allen Chastanet, was not a party to the claims himself.
This may be due to the fact that, back in 2013, when the Attorney General sought the Court’s opinion, attorneys for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition were present. Also present were attorneys representing the Saint Lucia Bar Association.
