Scott Mottley chides Government over ties to Privy Council
Published:Monday | April 21, 2025 | 12:08 AMCorey Robinson/Senior Staff Reporter
Opposition Senator Donna Scott Mottley last week chided the Government for what she describes as its attachment to the Privy Council, even as the nation embarks on complete decolonisation through constitutional reform.
Scott Mottley was speaking at this year’s Norman Manley Distinguished Lecture, put on by the Council of Legal Education at the Norman Manley Law School. It commemorated the 20th year of the inauguration of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CJ), located in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
“We have an opportunity now to close the circle of decolonisation. There is no more room for excuses, and the least they (Government) could do is to explain to the people of Jamaica why it is they are so deeply wedded to the Privy Council,” she charged. “Why is it that, at every step, every move, they have avoided taking that crucial decision to leave the Privy Council?”
Scott Mottley said she was honoured when she was appointed a member of Jamaica’s constitutional reform committee, and that she understood that it could only be done with full and complete decolonisation, which meant that Jamaica and the region would have to have their own final court of appeal embedded in the reform.
“To amend the right of appeal to the Privy Council requires no special provisions, no special deliberations or majority. No referendums ...” she charged as she pressed the Andrew Holness administration for answers.
In her reflection on the life and work of Manley, she noted that the CCJ would have been welcomed by the national hero because of his active role in ensuring stability and constitutional independence. She noted that, in Manley’s view, a true democracy is one where the people’s voice and vote are counted. She charged that the CCJ reflected the path on which Norman Manley and his legacy were destined.
“There is a time when we must recognise and celebrate who we are: our intellect, our desire for Caribbean jurisprudence, and just to be the giants that we can be,” she said.