KINGSTON, Jamaica — Government Senator and attorney-at-law Christian Tavares-Finson has described as “grossly premature and disingenuous” Opposition Leader and People’s National Party (PNP) president Mark Golding’s call for Jamaica to proceed with making the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) its final appellate court despite recent controversies surrounding the regional institution.

According to a statement, Tavares-Finson was responding to comments attributed to Golding in an article entitled “PNP not swayed by CCJ leaks”, published on August 11, in which Golding said the PNP remained of the view that Jamaica should move ahead with making the CCJ its final appellate court despite allegations by judges of interference in case deliberations, inappropriate panel selection and interpersonal conflicts.

Golding was also quoted as saying the leaked exchanges showed an internal environment in which judges felt free to express their independent and opposing views to the president of the court, arguing that “such healthy openness in expressing contested opinions is a sound basis upon which a strong judicial institution has been built”.