ST. GEORGE’S. Grenada, Sep. 13, CMC – Former President of the Trinidad and Tobago based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Sir Dennis Byron, is scheduled to address two education seminars ahead of the November 6 referendum which is seeking to make the CCJ the island’s final appellate court.

Sir Dennis will be the guest speaker at  the educational activities on September 18, organised by the CCJ Advisory Committee aimed at bringing a better understanding about the work of the Court to the voting population.

“He will be engaging the students at TAMCC (T.A. Marryshow Community College) on matters of the CCJ and then we expect him to address the public at the Deluxe cinema on the same day,”  said Senator Norland Cox

Sir Dennis, who has a long history as a regional and international judicial officer demitted his CCJ post in July 2018. He was replaced by Adrian Saunders.

In 1986, as Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Grenada on secondment from the  Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court  Sir Dennis presided over the famous murder trial of the Grenada 17 who were all accused of playing a role in the assassination of then Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and others.

Since launching its promotional activities last month,  members of the CCJ Advisory committee have been engaging in radio and television discussion programmes all aimed at enlightening the voting population about the role of the regional court.

Last week Friday members of the Lower House of Parliament unanimously approved the CCJ  Bill as it went through its first stage of Parliamentary approval.

On Friday, the Bill will be presented in the Upper House for deliberation and approval .

Following this, it must be Gazetted ahead of the referendum.

The law provides for two third of the voting population to vote yes for the constitutional change to occur.

This will be the second time that the CCJ Bill will be voted on a referendum. In 2016, Grenadians voted against the CCJ by a margin of 9,492 in favour and 12,434 voted against.

The  CCJ settles disputes between Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States and presently serves as the highest court of appeals on civil and criminal matters for the national courts of Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana.