ROSEAU, Dominica, Feb 21 2017 – Show promoter, Cabral Douglas, Monday said that the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had “squandered a tremendous opportunity to build its credibility as an international court” when it dismissed an application he filed accusing the Dominica government of causing a breach of contract with the Jamaican entertainer Tommy Lee Sparta.
In a statement, Douglas said that the ruling underscored why only four of the 16 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries “have agreed to embrace the jurisdiction of the court as its final court of appeal, and this decision, in my humble opinion, is a clear example why that is the case.
“I therefore believe that the court has squandered a tremendous opportunity to build its credibility as an international court. In order to achieve credibility amongst the Caribbean people, at some point, politics, corruption and personal relationships need to be removed from judicial decision making,” he said.
The CCJ is Dominica’s highest court and the matter was the first filed in 2015 when the island became a full member of the CCJ that was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council.
Tommy Lee, 26, whose real name is Leroy Russell, was scheduled to perform at a concert in February 2014, when on his arrival with three members of his team — Tiasha Oralie Russell, Junior Fraser and Mario Christopher Wallace — they were all denied entry, detained and deported the following day.
The Dominica government said its action was based in the interest of public safety as several organisations, including the Dominica Association of Evangelical Churches, had denounced the artiste’s appearance saying his music glorifies Satan and promotes lawlessness and violence.
Douglas had alleged that the action of the Roosevelt Skerrit government caused multiple violations of his rights under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, but the CCJ ruled that Douglas had failed to prove a breach of treaty rights which were intended to benefit him directly.
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