Governments in the Caribbean need to cooperate with each other in order to facilitate trade. One of the ways which some governments of the Caribbean cooperate is the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
What is the OECS?
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance between countries and territories in the Eastern Caribbean.
History the of OECS
OECS was created on 18 June 1981, with the Treaty of Basseterre, which was named after the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis. OECS is the successor of the Leewards Islands' political organisation known as the West Indies Associated States (WISA).
Members of OECS
OECS currently has eleven members which together form a continuous archipelago across the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands.
Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe and Martinique are only associate members of OECS.
Eight of the eleven members are constitutional monarchies with Queen Elizabeth II as their current monarch (Dominica is a republic with a President).
Secretariat and Director General
The functions of the Organization are set out in the Treaty of Basseterre and are coordinated by the Secretariat under the direction and management of the Director General.
The OECS Secretariat is led by the Director General. The current Director General of the OECS is Dr. Didacus Jules (Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council), who took his new position on 1 of May 2014. The former Dr. Len Ishmael demitted the office at the end of December 2013.
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) handles the judicial matters in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
The functions of the ECSC are as follows:
1. To interpret and apply the laws of the various member states of the OECS;
2. To decide cases of both civil and criminal matters;
3. To hear appeals.
Location
The Headquarters of the ECSC is in Castries, Saint Lucia, where it is located on the second floor of the Heraldine Rock Building, Block B, on the Waterfront.
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is the central bank for the Eastern Caribbean dollar and is the monetary authority for the members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), with the exception of the British Virgin Islands and Martinique. It was founded in October 1983.
Location
The bank is headquartered in Basseterre, St. Kitts, and is currently overseen by Mr. Timothy Antoine, the Bank Governor. Prior to assuming his post in February 2016, the bank was overseen by the late Sir K. Dwight Venner.
The current chairperson of the OECS is Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Free Movement and Benefits of OECS
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