00:00I, Chile Ebo Osuji, haven't been appointed as a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice
00:09do hereby swear that I will faithfully exercise the office of judge of the Caribbean Court
00:16of Justice without fear of favor.
00:18The new judge of the CCJ received his instrument of appointment from President Christine Kangaloo
00:24at President's House.
00:26The CCJ had said Dr. Obia Osuji is of Nigeria and Canada and has filled a vacancy created
00:33by the retirement of Justice Andrew Burgess on April 11.
00:37Among his many other accomplishments, Justice Ebo Osuji also has the distinction of having
00:44served as the fourth president of the International Criminal Court and is the first former judge
00:52of the ICC to be appointed to the CCJ.
00:56Justice Ebo Osuji and the CCJ are a perfect match.
01:02Outgoing CCJ President Adrian Saunders said the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission
01:08received 25 applications from various countries.
01:12The judges shortlisted were respectively from Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Belize and Canada
01:23stroke Nigeria.
01:25There were three men and two women.
01:28They were all of the highest caliber.
01:32TV6 News later saw details as to why the non-Caribbean national was chosen.
01:37We have found it particularly useful to have maybe one or two of the judges on the court
01:44bringing their experiences, their perspectives from outside of the region to help to enrich
01:52our Caribbean jurisprudence.
01:54Of course, you don't just pick up someone from outside the region.
01:57They have to go through the same rigorous and transparent process.
02:02And it is only because this particular candidate was the best of the lot that we interviewed
02:09that we selected him.
02:11And in response to a question from TV6 News, Justice Obi Osuji said he was impressed by what
02:18he called the top quality of the judges of the CCJ.
02:21The court has the best judges in the world at that level are here to serve.
02:33So there is no need looking at the level of the quality of judges we have here.
02:38The care taken in selecting them, I see really no need to be looking to England as the final
02:48court of appeal for the region.
02:52While the CCJ is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago's highest court of appeal
02:58continues to be the Privy Council in London.
03:02Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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