Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. From Tuesday, 7 to Wednesday, 8 October 2026, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will convene sittings in Saint Lucia to commemorate the Opening of the Judicial Year 2026/2027. For the first time in the Court’s 21-year history, Saint Lucia will host itinerant sittings, previously held in Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and Jamaica. In 2023, Saint Lucia became the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member State to accede to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction.
The itinerant (travelling) nature of the CCJ allows the Court to sit and conduct court proceedings in any country that is a party to the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. In keeping with the Court’s mission of ‘providing accessible, efficient and substantive justice for the people and states of the Caribbean Community’, holding sittings throughout the region brings the Court closer to the people it serves, allowing citizens to see the Court at work, and can further reduce travel costs for attorneys and litigants. CCJ President, the Honourable Mr Justice Winston Anderson asserts that itinerant sittings enable ‘the people of the region to see us, interact with us, and realise that we are in fact their kith and kin, and part and parcel of the fabric of their society.’
While in Saint Lucia, the full, seven-member CCJ Bench will hear three matters originating from Saint Lucia, Guyana, and Belize, respectively. The Court will also deliver judgments in two matters from Belize.
Additionally, the Court will pay courtesy calls on His Excellency Felix Finisterre, Acting Governor-General; the Honourable Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister; Her Ladyship the Honourable Margaret Price Findlay, Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; the Honourable Leslie Vincent Mondesir, Attorney General; and the Honourable Allen Chastanet, Leader of the Opposition.
Members of the public are invited to view the livestream of the itinerant sittings on the Court’s website, social media and YouTube pages. Details of the matters to be heard are also available in the Schedule of Court Sittings on the CCJ’s website, under the Judgments and Proceedings portal at www.ccj.org.
