The head of the Caribbean Court of Justice is denying allegations that he manipulated court panels to influence case outcomes, tying the controversy to a dispute over a judge wearing traditional dress instead of the court’s standard robes or business attire.
CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson said in a statement that he removed a colleague judge from a panel hearing a procedural matter in July after the judge refused to follow the court’s dress practice. Anderson said the decision was based solely on attire, not the judge’s legal views, and that the judge has since been reinstated for the case’s substantive hearing.
Critics have characterised the removal as panel fixing, a claim Anderson called “irresponsible, intellectually dishonest, injudicious and, quite simply, malevolent.” He noted all five judges who eventually heard the matter ruled unanimously.
Going forward, every CCJ judge will be required to sit on every panel unless they formally opt out.
Anderson also denied trying to influence rulings, pointing to a separate case where all seven judges reached unanimous agreement, and addressed his role in talks with Guyana’s president and opposition leader over unfilled top judicial posts there, saying his involvement was strictly constitutional in nature.
Before addressing the allegations, Anderson condemned the unauthorised leak of confidential court material that sparked the controversy, calling it damaging to judicial independence and public trust.
The CCJ is Belize’s final court of appeal, along with Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, and Saint Lucia.
