For the first time since its founding 21 years ago, the Trinidad-headquartered Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will bring its travelling judicial proceedings to the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia. The landmark sitting, scheduled for Tuesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 8, 2026, will also serve as the official opening of the CCJ’s 2026/2027 judicial year, marking a new milestone in regional judicial access.
Travelling sittings are a longstanding outreach initiative of the CCJ, designed to bring court proceedings directly to member states that are party to the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. Prior to this historic Saint Lucia visit, the court had held these on-location sessions in four other regional nations: Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and Jamaica. Saint Lucia’s invitation to host follows the country’s 2023 accession to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction, making it the fifth member state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to join the court’s appellate jurisdiction framework.
The core mission of the CCJ’s regional travelling program is to demystify the judicial process for Caribbean citizens by giving them firsthand opportunity to observe the court’s work in action. Aligned with the court’s institutional goal of delivering “accessible, efficient and substantive justice for the people and states of the Caribbean Community”, the programme delivers both practical and community-focused benefits. Beyond public education, on-location sittings cut down on travel expenses for legal representatives and litigants who would otherwise need to travel to the court’s base to participate in proceedings.
CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson emphasized the program’s role in rooting the regional court in Caribbean community life. “These sittings enable the people of the region to see us, interact with us, and realise that we are in fact their kith and kin, and part and parcel of the fabric of their society,” Anderson explained in an official statement from the court.
During the 2026 Saint Lucia sitting, the full seven-member CCJ bench will convene to hear three separate appeals originating from Saint Lucia, Guyana, and Belize respectively, and will also deliver final rulings on two additional pending matters from Belize. For those unable to attend the proceedings in person, the CCJ will make a live stream of the sittings available to the public via its official website, social media channels, and its public YouTube page. Full details of the case schedule and hearing information are already posted in the Schedule of Court Sittings section of the CCJ website for public reference.
In addition to judicial proceedings, the court’s leadership will carry out a series of formal courtesy meetings with Saint Lucia’s top government and judicial leaders during their visit. Scheduled calls include meetings with Acting Governor-General Felix Finisterre, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Chief Justice Margaret Price Findlay, Attorney General Leslie Vincent Mondesir, and Leader of the Opposition Allen Chastanet.