The Judicial Reform and Institutional Strengthening (JURIST) Project is assisting the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO) in hosting its 6th Biennial Conference which will be held in Belize City, Belize from October 31 – November 2, 2019 under the theme “Judicial Integrity – The Pathway to Public Trust and Confidence.”
Every two years, CAJO brings together judicial officers (including appellate, superior court and district judges) from all CARICOM Member States as well as representatives of the judiciaries of the wider Caribbean for a major judicial education conference.
The biennial conferences provide a forum for the sharing and exchanging of ideas, best practices and experiences in relation to a rich variety of topics that are of interest to judicial officers. Each conference is held in a different Caribbean state. CAJO’s conferences provide the only opportunity for judges from around the region to meet, discuss and exchange ideas that are uniquely concerned solely with the region’s justice issues. The conferences have been held since 2009. In 2017, the Honourable Mme. Justice Eunice Saleh, Chief Justice, Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles hosted the conference in Curaçao under the theme “Innovation, independent, responsive – Delivering Justice in a Modern Court.” The biennial conferences have all been a resounding success and have also attracted jurists from outside the Anglophone Caribbean.
This year’s conference will feature a series of panel discussions that will address a range of issues that will include the following topics:
- The development of the Rule of Law in the Caribbean – Recent CCJ Jurisprudence
- Complex Criminal Trials
- Vulnerable Witnesses
- The Rights of Indigenous Persons
- Challenges faced by Environmental Pollution
- The use of social media to promote judicial integrity
- Eliminating gender bias in adjudicating
- Procedural Fairness
- The role of the judicial officer as a leader
- Eliminating delay through the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution
Additionally, there will be keynote presentations from Dr. Terrence Farrell, Former Chairman, Economic Advisory Board, Trinidad and Tobago and Ms. Roberta Clarke, President, Coalition of Domestic Violence.
For further information on this year’s conference please visit www.thecajo.org
