IN FOCUS
envisaged us contributing to Caribbean development directly and indirectly. Certainly, out of the huge contributions, dominant themes emerge asserting a proud anti-colonial, independent Caribbean identity, protecting our sovereignty and hegemony, protecting equality and social justice and correcting existing inequities.” T he lecture by the award- winning scholar, author, and temporary Court of Appeal Judge focused on jurisprudence, more specifically, the published works of faculty scholars that have contributed to the maturation and development of Caribbean society. She listed influential works of the former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr. Nicholas Liverpool , who later became President of the Commonwealth of Dominica; another former dean, Telford Georges , on chattel houses; Kenny Anthony’s thesis on hybrid legal systems (he went on to become a prime minister of St. Lucia); Dr. Kathy-Ann Brown’s shiprider’s crusade that spoke to ships dumping in Caribbean waters; Professor Ralph Carnegie on the Westminster model; Margaret DeMerieux on preamble rights in the constitution; and Francis Alexis on When is an Existing Law Saved? The two-time winner of the Vice- Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for research and public service said the faculty was firm and clear that it was not enough to learn the letter of the law but the philosophy of the law as well and to understand the meaning and purpose of law in society. She said this helped inform its position that the region needed to have its own final appellate court in the Caribbean Court of Justice . “We must be enveloped in this notion of what a Caribbean legal infrastructure is to be. What is a Caribbean legal identity that would fit neatly into and enhance and elevate the society in which law
must operate? I really think the value of the faculty has been in being able to contextualise, frame, imagine and articulate these important core issues of the day.” Noting that credit should be given for legislative development through consultancies on domestic violence, child marriages, and maintenance, Professor Antoine stated there was a long way to go in interrogating the constitutions. “The question remains as to whether we are living the dream of our independence constitutions. I think some marginalised people appear to be excluded or invisibilised. So we have brought in some of the LGBTI rights, but we have not fleshed out gender, for example, as much as we can. There’s still a lot of work there to do. A lot of it has been done in terms of legislation, but we have not been able to effectively challenge or stretch these concepts of what sex means or women’s rights, in general, in our constitutional jurisprudence.
might be part of the reason. We still have quite moronic legislation. For example, in Trinidad, we still have a statute that says in the police force if a woman gets pregnant, she could be dismissed. These laws need to be tested.” Professor Antoine said regional courts have largely abdicated their responsibility to interrogate the constitutional instrument to bring about real maturity in the legal infrastructure with regard to gender but explained that is not because the faculty has been lax on the issue. She noted the faculty has also excelled at positioning its historical and political experience in current jurisprudential realities and the identification and exposition of the unique hybrid legal systems in the region. However, the professor suggested it has not done enough on matters relating to legal history and reparations. Furthermore, she stated the work that has begun in relation to Small Island Developing States, the impact of climate change on the environment and renewable energy must continue. Looking to the future, she said there should be more focus on interdisciplinary studies. l
“In fact, there have been very few constitutional challenges on that, and that
Faculty of Law, Cave Hill has been moulding legal minds since its establishment.
CHILL NEWS 27
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