 Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this Constitution of St. Lucia Amendment Bill at a stable earlier today by the Honorable Prime Minister and member for Cassry's East. Mr. Speaker, in my training as a secretary I learned something called shorthand and what it did was allowed us to pray see what has been said. So this afternoon and today I know we have heard quite a bit. I want to join the other members here to commend our former Prime Minister and member for you for South for his eloquence, his clarity in giving us the history of the CCJ, but more importantly the importance of the CCJ in ensuring access to justice by the average's inclusion among other things. Mr. Speaker, before I go into this very short presentation here today I want to also join members in congratulating our Julian Alfred and as I watched the race it was telling us as usual we are as good as the race Mr. Speaker and in some cases better than the race. So Mr. Speaker, the importance of this moment in our history as an independent nation must not be underestimated and I'm pleased that today within this August chamber were generations of young lawyers who came in who sat and listened to this debate. It's a historic moment Mr. Speaker and I am also thankful to the Almighty for giving me this opportunity to be in this August body. Mr. Speaker, only last week the 22nd of February to be exact, St. Lucian celebrated 44 years of our independence. Today, February the 28th, we are taking the bold and courageous step of amending our constitution to modify provisions that allow appeals who are majestic in council and to provide appeals to the Caribbean court of justice. Mr. Speaker, you've heard this morning from our Honourable Prime Minister and he articulated a few things that I want to just repeat here and reinforce that all the constitutional requirements have been met. The need for 90 days between the first and second reading of this bill was met. We've heard very clearly both from the Honourable Prime Minister and the member for V4 South and other speakers here today of the independent funding structure for the courts in the establishment of the US $100 million trust fund. We've heard as well of the independence in the selection of the judges and staff of the CCJ. So Mr. Speaker, we've heard as well that the issue of adopting the CCJ as the centrucial's final appellate court was a promise made by this Central Labour Party administration. And you've heard members before me reading the exact sections of our constitution on page 28. So I will not repeat it here today. But one of the main reasons that was articulated in this manifesto was to return our country to a system that respect our democratic norms and the rights of our people. That was one of the main reasons why we decided that we are going to commence this process to adopt the Caribbean Court of Justice. We were very clear, Mr. Speaker, and there is a saying that we were crystal clear, Mr. Speaker. It was documented. So today we are keeping this promise, Mr. Speaker. We made a promise to the people and we are keeping it. Mr. Speaker, the fact that the people of this country voted overwhelmingly for the Central Labour Party at the last election, selecting 13 of the 17. And now, through consensus, we have the additional two members with us, making it 15, Mr. Speaker. I believe that all the people, the majority of the people are supporting what you're doing today. But Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the above, let us take a minute again to reemphasize the pros and cons of moving to the CCJ as our final appellate court. And I want to look at a document that we have here where we say 10 reasons why St. Lucia should accede to the CCJ. And I will just speak up three. Item five speaks of the fact that going to the Privy Council is extremely expensive. And that explains, Mr. Speaker, from information that we have, a minimum cost is about EC $130,000. Way beyond the affordability of the average centrucian. The other reason why we must get on to the CCJ, Mr. Speaker, this document is telling us that the experiences of those curriculum states that delinked from the Privy Council to the CCJ, and namely, Barbados, Belize, Dominica have one thing in common. The volume of the secondary appeals has climbed enormously, which in essence is saying these countries, their constituents now have greater access to justice, Mr. Speaker. And another reason presented in this document, the CCJ has remained and is keeping in touch with modern times and has again increased access through modernizing the courts and allowing persons to participate in that system electronically. Mr. Speaker, we've also heard from speakers before us that over the last 16 years, only 17 cases from Centrucia have reached the Privy Council. Mr. Speaker, there is a saying that justice delayed is justice denied. And one of the key comments concerning the Privy Council is the duration, the length of time it takes to give a decision. So Mr. Speaker, what is the average person saying or what should they say as we make this move? I look at a leaflet in terms of communicating and this leaflet was prepared by the committee that was tasked with the responsibility to speak about the CCJ to our people. And it says it speaks about independence, it speaks about accessibility, effectiveness and the original status of our Caribbean courts. Mr. Speaker, for me, as I look at this leaflet, it speaks about the mission of the Caribbean Court of Justice. And that mission is saying that the CCJ is committed to providing accessible, fair and efficient justice for the people and states of the Caribbean community. It is also asking another question, do you know what the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice is? And the response is it is an appellate jurisdiction. The Caribbean Court of Justice has appealed from the lower courts in both civil and criminal matters from countries which have decided that the CCJ should be the final court of appeal. So Mr. Speaker, why is the CCJ so important to our people? As a parliamentary rep for Souffre, I place great importance on the issue of access to justice. And this access hinges on one, affordability and two, speed at which the cases are heard and decisions made. So Mr. Speaker, the fact that the CCJ is a Caribbean Court is very important to us as a people. The pride in embracing our own, the pride in realizing that we are of age, the pride in accepting that as a Caribbean people we have the ability to dispense justice impartially. And I think that is important for us because that's the question out there. Can we, do we have the integrity to present justice in an impartial manner? So Mr. Speaker, and again I will repeat what has been said, the Caribbean region has given the world eminent jurists and we've heard some names today and I don't think that I should ignore some of them. Suddenly Alexander is the one that I will mention first because he is from the land of lands, Souffre. And I could remember as a child passing through the area where this house still stands, where this gentleman and his relatives, where he was born. And we are always taught that you can achieve. And that is important for us. When you think of the late Sir Vincent Chlossak from Swazel, you've heard from, we have Justice U-Rollins from St. Kitts. We have Dame Janice Perera from the BVI and my late friend, Madam Susie Duvet. Sir Lady had a lot of respect for from castries. And this morning in this august body we had Sir Dennis Byron from St. Kitts who have represented the region well internationally. And when I look at the documents before me, I learned something as well today of the late Madam Justice Marie Elizabeth Born Holland, first woman judge of the Commonwealth Caribbean who was born of the morn in castries, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, I repeat all of this to say that we have enough evidence to show that our men and women of this region are of the highest integrity and highest competence for us to have our own Caribbean appellate court. So Mr. Speaker, let us seize this moment, Mr. Speaker, because it is an important moment for us. Mr. Speaker, as we go through this debate, I also try to understand why some of us are afraid of change. It is a natural thing. Persons are afraid of change. But I also have been reminded that change is something that is also constant. The world is changing. I believe on this side and as a member of this government, our government, that by all means we must continue to provide the public with information on the workings of the CCJ so that they may feel that they may understand and be comfortable of the CCJ as our Caribbean courts. So I want to thank the committee who's tasked with that responsibility and I saw two, I think at least two members in this August chamber with us this afternoon. And I'm told that the committee will be having a strong haul in Sufran Saturday. I want to encourage members to attend and I want to encourage the public to continue engaging to understand the work of this very important body. By all means, Mr. Speaker, let us continue to work to improve the overall justice system in Sanctucia because the man on the street will make decisions concerning the CCJ based on the experience they have in our local system. Whether we like it or not, this is a reality. And we've heard from the member from Vuford South where he lamented the fact that the magistrate court in Vuford is closed. And Mr. Speaker, I recall very clearly once I've been in a conversation with a vendor in the Sufran market and she was actually a lady from Suazale and she was talking about she lost her son in a murder case and she was speaking and I could see that she was bleeding inside and she was calling for justice. So as we debate this, I remember this lady because she might never be, she might not have been able to afford going to the Privy Council. But what we are doing there today, we are addressing persons at that level who really want and who are really seeking justice. We are giving them an opportunity to access this justice. I remember as well, Mr. Speaker, as we speak, we have several inmates in our prisons who are on remand. Some of them believe that they deny justice. Going to this Caribbean court of justice will open access to those persons, access to justice. So Mr. Speaker, by all means, let us thank the British for providing us with the services of the Privy Council for such a long time. But Mr. Speaker, by all means, let us make this move to the CTJ and let justice and peace reign in our land and our region. Yes, Mr. Speaker, we must embrace the CTJ. And the time to do so is now. The time when the people of Central Asia have placed their confidence in this administration. They've given us the mandate to do the things that were difficult. Now they've given us the mandate. Now is our moment to move. We can no longer delay this process. So as I stand here, I support the bill before us. And I say to all, let the good Lord guide us on this journey. I thank you.