President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Winston Anderson, has rejected recent allegations of “panel fixing” at the regional court aimed at securing particular outcomes – something which he says strikes at the heart of judicial independence. On Friday, Justice Anderson issued a 9-page statement describing the claims made as “wholly untrue”.

The issue, he explained, stemmed from the composition of a CCJ interlocutory panel constituted to hear a procedural preliminary application in a matter involving Trinidad and Tobago – D’Almada v Trinidad and Tobago. Justice Anderson said a fellow CCJ judge was removed from that panel over dress code concerns and had nothing to do with the merits of the case or the anticipated outcome.

“At the time of the removal from the interlocutory panel and replacement by another colleague, I made it abundantly clear in writing that the Judge’s removal from that particular panel was based solely upon the issue of judicial attire and that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the Judge’s opinions, participation in judicial conferences or deliberations, or the expression of judicial views,” the CCJ President contended.