The rule of law and the Caribbean Court of Justice: taking jus cogens for a spin

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Caribbean Court of Justice was established in 2005 to have a determinative role in the further development of Caribbean jurisprudence, and, during its sixteen years of existence, the CCJ has made many important pronouncements on the rule of law. A recent study of these pronouncements suggests that the Court appears to be headed towards the acceptance of a substantive conception of the rule of law which is hierarchically superior to the Constitution and which limits the legislative power to amend the Constitution. But any such court-determined rule of law may be difficult to reconcile with orthodox principles of Caribbean constitutionalism and the orderly development of Caribbean Constitutional democracies. This paper identifies an alternative method of disciplining legislative action in the norms of jus cogens and explores the conceptual methodologies and precedents for making these norms applicable in domestic law.