ANTIGUA – Antigua and Grenada to hold CCJ Referendum in November

Antigua will host its first referendum on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on November 6, the same day that Grenada will host its second referendum on the court.

Both countries are trying to delink from the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in favour of the Trinidad-based CCJ.

The JCPC has served as the final court of appeal for both countries even before independence from Britain.

Grenada made its first attempt to join the CCJ in  2016 but that attempt was rejected along with all other items on the ballot.

Like Antigua, Grenada is now likely to include only one item, the final court, on its ballot.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says a public education around the CCJ is likely to commence in the coming weeks.

“I think it is important to complete that circle on independence,” Browne said on local radio over the weekend.

A two-thirds majority in a referendum is needed to change the entrenched provision in the constitution.