Abstract
The rise of globalisation and the expansion of international commerce and free market principles have resulted in a need to readjust our approach to resolving disputes. At the international level, litigation comprises a framework within which municipal and international rules are applied to disputes between private individuals or entities that are primarily based in different countries or to legal disputes that have a “foreign” component. The issues that are typically the subjects of international litigation can range from the validity of service of process; the Court’s personal jurisdiction over defendants; and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements and awards. The law to be applied in the resolution of these disputes will depend on several factors, including where the action is filed, and the existence of any written agreement between the parties with a choice of law clause. The Caribbean Basin has long been an attractive region for trade relations with the outside world, particularly North America and Europe. This is due in large part to the region’s strategic location as well as its social and economic stability that has been enhanced by the operations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its supporting institutions. However, as a result of a high level of open trade practices, the geographically small islands of the region are highly susceptible to external influences. The proliferation of bilateral and multi-lateral agreements around the Caribbean region and globally can be viewed in large part as a means of addressing some of the issues that arise from trade disputes. Prior to this, cross-jurisdiction trade disputes were primarily resolved in the national courts of one party’s home country which often times raised questions relating to the appropriateness of municipal judges as adjudicators of international disputes.
This paper is the textual representation of a talk given by The Hon. Mr Justice Winston Anderson at the Conference on Integration and International Dispute Resolution in Small States, held in London, 19–20 May, 2016.
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Notes
- 1.
In this regard see the 1965 Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (Hague Service Convention) which provides for service of process of legal documents from one state to another without resorting to diplomatic channels; and the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and its Additional Protocol (Inter-American Service Convention 1975) which provides a mechanism for service of documents by a foreign central authority as a replacement for the traditional letters rogatory process.
- 2.
See the case of Daimler AG v Bauman 134 S. Ct. 746 (2014), 134 S. Ct. 746 (2014) where the United States Supreme Court determined that a court cannot exercise jurisdiction over a foreign corporation for conduct which occurred outside of the United States unless “affiliations with the State are so continuous and systematic as to render it essentially at home in the forum State.”
- 3.
See the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, June 10, 1958, 21 U.S.T. 2517, 330 U.N.T.S. 38 (New York Convention) which requires courts of contracting states to give effect to agreements to arbitrate as well as to recognise and enforce arbitration awards which are executed in states that are parties to the convention.
- 4.
Pollard (2004), p. 42.
- 5.
Ibid.
- 6.
Bernard (2009), Article 11.
- 7.
Article V of the Agreement Establishing the CCJ.
- 8.
Article IV, para 6 of the Agreement Establishing the CCJ.
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the CCJ; Article 211 of the RTC.
- 11.
(2009) CCJ 2 (OJ) at (32).
- 12.
Article XIII of the Agreement, Article 212 of the Treaty.
- 13.
(1977) QB 529 at 568, quoting Sir Samuel Evans in The Odessa (1915) 52, 61–62.
- 14.
(2013) CCJ 3 (OJ); see also Chapter 3.
- 15.
Article 208 of the RTC; Article XVIII of the CCJ Agreement.
- 16.
See Caribbean Court of Justice (Original Jurisdiction) Rules 2017, Part 14.
- 17.
C15-81 Gaston Schul (1982) ECR 1409.
- 18.
Trinidad Cement Limited and TCL Guyana Incorporated v The State of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana (2009) CCJ 5 (OJ); (2009) 75 WIR 327.
- 19.
Hummingbird Rice Mills Ltd v Suriname and the Caribbean Community (2012) CCJ 1 (OJ); (2012) 79 WIR 448.
- 20.
Rudisa Beverages & Juices N.V. and Caribbean International Distributors Inc. v Guyana (2014) CCJ 1 (OJ).
- 21.
Article 175 of the RTC.
- 22.
Hummingbird (n 19) (30).
- 23.
Ibid (43).
- 24.
Trinidad Cement Limited v Competition Commission (2012) CCJ 4 (OJ) (6).
- 25.
Hummingbird (n 19) (30).
- 26.
Trinidad Cement Ltd v Caribbean Community (2009) CCJ 4 (OJ); 75 WIR 194.
- 27.
(2009) CCJ 4 (OJ).
- 28.
(2009) CCJ 1 (23)–(30).
- 29.
Ibid (25)–(28).
- 30.
Ibid (n 28).
- 31.
Trinidad Cement Limited and TCL Guyana Incorporated v The State of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana (2009) CCJ 5 (OJ); (2009) 75 WIR 327.
- 32.
Hummingbird Rice Mills Ltd v Suriname and the Caribbean Community (2012) CCJ 1 (OJ); (2012) 79 WIR 448.
- 33.
Rudisa Beverages & Juices N.V. and Caribbean International Distributors Inc. v Guyana (2014) CCJ 1 (OJ).
- 34.
(2013) CCJ 3 (OJ); see also Chapter 3.
- 35.
Mr Justice Winston Anderson (2013) Free Movement within CARICOM: Deconstructing Myrie v Barbados. Speech delivered at the OECS Bar Association.
- 36.
Trinidad Cement Limited and TCL Guyana Incorporated v The State of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana (2009) CCJ 5 (OJ); (2009) 75 WIR 327.
- 37.
(2009) CCJ 5 (OJ) (28).
- 38.
Ibid (n 32).
- 39.
Ibid (n 34).
- 40.
(2009) CCJ 4 (OJ).
- 41.
Trinidad Cement Limited and TCL Guyana Incorporated v The State of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana (2009) CCJ 5 (OJ); (2009) 75 WIR 327.
- 42.
Rudisa Beverages & Juices N.V. and Caribbean International Distributors Inc. v Guyana (2014) CCJ 1 (OJ).
- 43.
Hummingbird Rice Mills Ltd v Suriname and the Caribbean Community (2012) CCJ 1 (OJ); (2012) 79 WIR 448.
- 44.
Ibid (n 43) (17).
- 45.
Hummingbird Rice Mills Ltd v Suriname and the Caribbean Community (2012) CCJ 1 (OJ); (2012) 79 WIR 448.
- 46.
(2016) CCJ 1 (OJ).
- 47.
(2015) CCJ 2 (AJ) at (16) per Anderson, JCCJ.
- 48.
(2013) CCJ 5 (AJ).
References
Anderson J (2013) Free Movement within CARICOM: Deconstructing Myrie v Barbados. Speech delivered the OECS Bar Association
Bernard D (2009) The Caribbean Court of Justice: a new judicial experience. Int J Leg Inf 37(1): Article 11
Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (The Hague Service Convention) (1965) Available at https://assets.hcch.net/docs/f4520725-8cbd-4c71-b402-5aae1994d14c.pdf (last accessed 1 Dec 2017)
Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and its Additional Protocol (Inter-American Service Convention) (1975) Available at http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/b-36.html (last accessed 1 Dec 2017)
Pollard D (2004) The Caribbean Court of Justice: closing the circle of independence. Ian Randle Publishers, p 42
UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) (the “New York Convention”). Available at http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/arbitration/NYConvention.html (last accessed 1 Dec 2017)
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Anderson, W., Layne, R. (2018). International Litigation and the Caribbean Court of Justice. In: Butler, P., Lein, E., Salim, R. (eds) Integration and International Dispute Resolution in Small States. The World of Small States, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74573-2_14
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