The Caribbean Court of Justice was formally inaugurated in the Trinidadian capital on Saturday, to serve as the highest judicial body for Caricom member states. The move represents a concrete step towards regional states shedding their longstanding dependence on Britain's Privy Council that's been resented by many as a vestige of colonialism. St Lucian prime minister Kenny Anthony at the inauguration referred to the CCJ as "a taste of final emancipation". But the court is initially serving most of the member states in relation to trade disputes, because only Barbados and Guyana have so far signed up to its full potential as a final appellate court on criminal matters. That has prompted former Trinidadian attorney general Lawrence Ramesh Maharaj to criticise the establishment of the court as watered-down version of what was originally intended and as such "an injustice to Caribbean people". Mr Maharaj questioned the selection of CCJ judges, called on them to resign and reiterated an already expressed warning that the court could be subjected to political interference. "People cannot get justice from a court if the court does not comprise competent, effective and independent persons" he said, calling on the court's jurists to step down. "The Caribbean court is really not a court, it's a tribunal, they do not have any work to do, they are sitting down getting money under false pretences and they should resign until this thing is properly sorted out" former attorney general Maharaj told BBC Caribbean Radio. But his views have been dismissed by Professor Simeon McIntosh, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Barbados Cavehill Campus of the University of the West Indies. "I think the comment is actually ridiculous. When the court makes a decision on a trade matter or on a trade dispute under its original jurisdiction, it is not a trade court speaking - it is the Caribbean Court of Justice, the highest court, speaking" Professor McIntosh explained. He said calling the CCJ a trade court was doing it a great disservice. Head of the court Michael de la Bastide has rejected suggestions that the Caribbean court would be influenced by regional governments. He promised that as CCJ President he would ensure that the court had no political afiliation. Justice de la Bastide told the inauguration that if politicians had expected to interfere with the regional court they had picked the wrong man to head it. He also predicted that Caribbean nations reluctant to give up the London-based Privy Council would come on board as the CCJ proved itself worthy of being the Caribbean's final appelate court. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com