DESCRIBING the current discord within the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as deeply troubling, former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has recommended an urgent probe and speedy resolution, warning that delay could irreparably tarnish the institution’s reputation.

“Disagreements are normal and healthy in a panel of judges who may offer different interpretations of the facts and points of law. That is why a panel exists. One expects that such disagreements are expressed respectfully, unlike another jurisdiction where they are sometimes punctuated with personal abuse,” Golding said in a column sent to the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

Golding weighed in on the turmoil which became public at the start of the week when the Sunday Express newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago published a series of e-mail involving CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson and colleague judges.