Caribbean legal systems

Court of Appeal and Supreme (High) Courts

Supreme Court

The Jamaican Constitution 1962, speaks to the establishment of the Supreme Court

S 97. Establishment of the Supreme Court.

(1) There shall be a Supreme Court for Jamaica which shall have such jurisdiction and powers as may be
conferred upon it by this Constitution or any other law.
(2) The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be the Chief Justice, a Senior Puisne Judge and such number of
other Puisne Judges as may be prescribed by Parliament.
(3) No office of Judge of the Supreme Court shall be abolished while there is a substantive holder
thereof.
(4) The Supreme Court shall be a superior court of record and, save as otherwise provided by Parliament,
shall have all the powers of such a court.

COURT OF APPEAL
The Jamaican Constitution 1962, speaks to the establishment of the Court of Appeal.

Each will now be considered in turn.

S 103. (1) There shall be a Court of Appeal for Jamaica which shall have such jurisdiction and
powers as may be conferred upon it by this Constitution or any other law.

(2) The Judges of the Court of Appeal shall be-

a. President;
b. the Chief Justice by virtue of his office as head of the Judiciary but who,
however, shall not sit in the Court of Appeal unless there are at least four other
Judges sitting and unless he has been invited so to sit by the President of the
Court;
c. three other Judges; and
d. such number, if any, of other Judges as may be prescribed by Parliament.
(3) The President of the Court of Appeal shall be responsible for the arrangement of the
work of the Court and shall preside whenever he is sitting in that Court.
(4) No office of Judge of the Court of Appeal shall be abolished while there is a
substantive holder thereof.
(5) The Court of Appeal shall be a superior court of record and, save as otherwise

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 provided by Parliament, shall have all the powers of such a court.

Analysis of the Superior Court System

The legal system in any jurisdiction depends on a well-ordered, efficient system of courts to
administer justice. It is only where such a system exists and where the said courts are able to
dispense justice with integrity that we can say that the legal system has validity and
sustainability.
The court system is organised according to a three-tier structure corresponding to the
rank which the particular court is accorded in the judicial system. The higher the court in the
hierarchy, the more authoritative. For most countries in the region, the court which sits at the
top of the hierarchy of courts is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, based in England,
often called simply 'the Privy Council'. This judicial body is the final Court of Appeal for those
jurisdictions. For a few countries which have now discontinued appeals to the Privy Council, the
newly constituted Caribbean Court of Justice is the final Court of Appeal.
Three types of courts can be identified in the Commonwealth Caribbean:
i) inferior courts;
ii) superior courts, or courts of record; and
iii) the Privy Council or Caribbean Court of Justice,

The superior courts placing second in the hierarchy. In addition, Regional and
international courts also have an important bearing on the judicial system of any jurisdiction. In
the Commonwealth Caribbean, there are two such regional courts, one of which is the
Caribbean Court of Justice, above, and the other, a regional Supreme Court which sits
immediately below the Privy Council, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

SUPERIOR COURTS OF RECORD-

Jurisdiction of superior courts

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Superior courts or Courts of Record themselves consist of two tiers, comprising a High Court or
Supreme Court and a Court of Appeal with such jurisdiction, powers and authority as are
conferred on these courts by the Constitutions or any other law. Collectively, the court is often
called the Supreme Court. The High Court is usually the trial court or the Court of First Instance,
while the Court of Appeal carries out the appellate function of the Supreme Court. Terminology
is not necessarily important in describing the names of superior court across the region, since,
in some of the countries, for example, Belize and the Bahamas, the High Court is called the
Supreme Court and there is an additional Court of Appeal.
In the Commonwealth Caribbean the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is grounded in
the Constitution, unlike inferior courts where ordinary statute establishes magistrates' courts
and jurisdiction. Ordinary legislation supplements the jurisdiction of the superior courts and
gives it detail. Since the Constitution grants jurisdiction to superior courts, their jurisdiction
cannot be taken away otherwise than by the Constitution. This point is highlighted in the case
of Re Niles (No2).1
Similarly, the powers of the Court of Appeal cannot be enlarged without the appropriate
constitutional procedure where such enlargement results in the narrowing of citizens’ rights.
The High Court is primarily a court of original jurisdiction (to try a matter in the first
instance). However, it may have an appellate jurisdiction also over summary matters arising
from courts such as petty sessional courts, and in certain instances, over administrative
tribunals on a point of law.
The original jurisdiction of the High Court operates for both criminal and civil cases. The
court has unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. As regards damages, no limit is
placed on the amount which the court may award, although in practice, certain well established
principles are adhered to in assessing the quantum of damages. The civil jurisdiction of the High
Court covers all actions and proceedings in equity, the common law, divorce and matrimonial
causes, probate, bankruptcy and admiralty matters. It is normal, however, for proceedings over
which the inferior courts have jurisdiction generally matters involving small sums of money or

1 (2003) 66 WIR 64

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relatively unimportant questions of law— to be resolved in those courts, reserving the more
important civil cases for the High Court.2
The High Court, or superior Court of First Instance, has criminal jurisdiction over all
treasons, felonies and misdemeanours.3 Generally, the criminal jurisdiction of this court is
exercised only for the more serious offences which are tried on indictment, leaving the lesser
offences to be tried summarily in the inferior courts or intermediate courts. In cases where a
criminal offence is created by statute, there is a presumption that such offence is triable by
the High Court in the absence of any express provision to the contrary. Appeals from the High
Court go to the Court of Appeal.
All the Constitutions of the Commonwealth Caribbean provide for judicial review by the
courts where a citizen contends that his fundamental rights have been abrogated. The citizen
may make such application for redress via the High Court or Supreme Court. This is a very
important jurisdiction. In fact, such courts can be viewed as the 'guardians' of the Constitution.
A constitutional motion to the Privy Council or the Caribbean Court of Justice is also available to
a person who seeks redress for alleged violation of fundamental rights as secured under the
Constitution, where application for redress has failed before the Supreme Court.
Courts of Appeal have appellate jurisdiction only. These courts do not sit with a jury,
because they are not concerned with reviewing the evidence or facts of a case. Rather, they
adjudicate on matters of law. An uneven number of judges constitute a Court of Appeal, usually
three. They hear appeals from magistrates' courts and the High Court or superior Court of First
Instance or from specialised courts. Appeals are as of right only in exceptional cases such as an
alleged violation of constitutional rights. Other cases require leave to appeal. Criminal appeals
are limited to the following:
(a) against conviction on any ground which involves a question of law alone;

2 The Court Of First Instance may be divided into Divisions Of specialist jurisdiction. For
example, in Barbados, there are three divisions Of the High Court: the Civil Division, the
Family Division and the Criminal Division.
3 The court sits in its criminal jurisdiction at specific periods, called 'Assizes'.

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(b) with leave of the Court of Appeal or upon the certificate of the trial judge that it is a fit case
for appeal;
(c) with leave of the Court of Appeal against sentence, where that sentence is not one fixed by
law.
The superior courts have jurisdiction in electoral cases. Cases involving electoral disputes are
confined to the High Court and Court of Appeal. Similarly, matters concerning the
determination of questions of membership of the legislature (be it Senate or House of
Assembly) are to be determined by the High Court. In some countries the decision of the High
Court is final on this matter.4
The superior court also has an inherent supervisory jurisdiction over statutory bodies
and statutory powers. This is the subject of Administrative Law which is concerned with the
judicial review of the decisions from such bodies by the superior courts. This, however, is not an
appellate function. Rather, the judicial review function inquires only into how such decisions
were made. In some cases, for example, the court may refer a matter back to the
administrative authority for it to make the decision in accordance with the law.

References

Jamaican Constitution 1962

Antoine, B, R. (2008). Commonwealth Caribbean Law and Legal Systems (2 ed.)

4 In Jamaica, Belize and Barbados