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Saint Lucia: IALS Library Guides

An introduction to legal research in the jurisdiction of Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia

Guide last updated by Katie Radford, January 2025

About the author

This guide was created by Katie Radford, Access Librarian at the IALS Library.

Email katie.radford@sas.ac.uk

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Introduction

Saint Lucia is an island nation located in the Eastern Caribbean in the Windward Islands. As of 2018, it had a population of approximately 180,000 people. It is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with King Charles III as head of state. The King is represented by a Governor-General, where executive authority is vested. The parliament consists of an appointed Senate with 11 seats and an elected House of Assembly with 18 seats.

The earliest known settlement in Saint Lucia was the Arawak people, followed by the Kalinago people who took control of the island around 800 AD. The first European settlement was established by the French in 1650, following the French King’s claim of sovereignty in 1642 and the granting of the island to the French West Indian Company. 

Following this, there was over a century of warfare between the UK and France over control of the island. Britain gained full control in 1803 and this was formally recognised by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. After the Treaty of Paris, Saint Lucia was a separate crown colony from 1814 until 1958. During this time, the island was administered as a part of the Windward Islands between 1838-1885.

From 1958 to 1962, the island formed part of the West Indies Federation. From 1967, Saint Lucia became an associate state of the UK, with internal self-government but with foreign and defence matters handled in London. Full independence from Britain was achieved in 1979 and Saint Lucia became an independent Commonwealth realm.

Legal system

Saint Lucia’s legal system is often described as a “hybrid” system, based fundamentally on English common law but with elements of French civil law traditions. When the British gained control of Saint Lucia in the early 19th century, the French law had already been codified and procedures of French civil law were already being used. The sources of civil law in Saint Lucia are difficult to trace but are thought to be based on pre-revolutionary France, drawing on Quebecoise codifications. English common law was introduced subsequently, creating a hybrid legal system with characteristics of both civil and common law, which is still the case today. 

The unique combination of common and civil law in Saint Lucia has caused challenges in the interpretation of Saint Lucian law (see Dorcas White, ‘Some Problems of a Hybrid Legal System: A Case Study of St. Lucia’ (1981) 30 International & Comparative Law Quarterly 862). There is a limited body of jurisprudence on which Saint Lucian lawyers and judges can draw, leading them to refer to Quebec for guidance on occasion, as another jurisdiction which blends elements of common and civil law. 

Constitution

The current Constitution of Saint Lucia dates from 1979 when the island gained its independence. The Saint Lucia Constitutional Order 1978, along with the St Lucia Termination of Association Order 1978, came into effect on 22nd February 1979. The Constitution is the supreme law of Saint Lucia and contains a declaration of fundamental rights and freedoms. The 1978 Constitution is still in force, with some subsequent amendments, and is included in the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (see below Legislation section for more details). 

The text of the Constitution freely available online via several sources, including the Government of Saint Lucia website. IALS Library also has online access to the Constitution, as well as some other resources relating to constitutional law in Saint Lucia, via World Constitutions Illustrated which is part of HeinOnline. 

There were other Constitutions of Saint Lucia prior to the current independence Constitution. For example, in 1960 when Saint Lucia became an autonomous unit within the Windward Islands federation and again in 1967 when Saint Lucia became an associated state, which gave the island full control over its internal affairs. IALS Library has a copy of the preindependence Saint Lucia Constitutional Order 1967, as well as other documents relating to preindependence constitutional law including a collection of related orders from 1959-1961

Legislation

As previously discussed, Saint Lucia’s legal system is described as a hybrid system, based on English common law with elements of French civil law. In 1879, a Civil Code and a Code of Civil Procedure were created, based on English translations of the Quebec codes from 1868. The Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure were maintained as separate codifications in the 1957 Revised Ordinances of Saint Lucia. IALS library contains several editions of the Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure:

The draft Civil Code of Saint Lucia (1876)

The Civil Code of Saint Lucia (1879)

The Civil Code of Saint Lucia (1957)

Code of Civil Procedure (1881)

The library also has copies of different editions of other Saint Lucian codes in the library including:

The Commercial Code of Saint Lucia (1916)

The Commercial Code of Saint Lucia (1957)

The Criminal Code of Saint Lucia (1920)

The Criminal Code of Saint Lucia (1957)

The Criminal Code of Saint Lucia (1992)

These codes were in force until 2001, when they were subsumed into the 2001 Revised Edition of the Laws of Saint Lucia. The 2001 Revised Laws completely rearranged laws and regulations into new chapters based on subject areas. This was published in print as a set of loose-leaf volumes. In this revised edition, all laws and ordinances are called acts and secondary legislation is included in the respective chapter headings. 

Since 2001, there have been a number of subsequent revisions, including in 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2019. A new version of the Criminal Code came into force in 2005, and was included in the 2005 Revision. All codes as they are currently in force can be found the current revision of the Laws of Saint Lucia.

IALS library has a print copy of the 2001 Revised Laws of Saint Lucia in loose-leaf format, which is up to date as of 31st December 2020. New revisions continue to be issued as loose-leaf releases. The current edition of the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia as of 2022 is available online from the website of the Attorney General’s Chambers.

Additionally, IALS library also retains historic legislation of Saint Lucia in its collections. For example, the library has the previous Revised Ordinances of Saint Lucia from 1957, which was replaced by the 2001 revision. There are also sets of ordinances in the collection from 1916, 1889, 1852 and 1843. 

In addition to the sets of revised laws, the library also has good holdings of annual volumes of laws of Saint Lucia. Ordinances of Saint Lucia are held from 1818 to 1997 in the reserve collection, with 1998 onwards on the open shelves, although this coverage is less comprehensive. Similarly, subsidiary legislation comprising orders-in-council, rules, regulations and standing rules and orders is held in the reserve collection from 1897-2001, with less comprehensive coverage from 2002 onwards on the open shelves. 

Another useful resource in the IALS collection is the Saint Lucia consolidated index of statutes and subsidiary legislation, compiled by the Law Library at the University of the West Indies. The library has the current version of the index and retains superseded editions.   

Law Reports

Saint Lucia has a series of Magistrate’s courts, and a higher Supreme Court, which is made up of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. There is no official published series of court reports in Saint Lucia. A limited number of Saint Lucian cases are reported in the West Indian Reports (High Court and Court of Appeal cases). IALS library has up-to-date print holdings of the West Indian Reports as well as online access via Lexis+.

IALS library also has print volumes of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Law Reports (1991-1995) and the Eastern Caribbean Law Reports (1996-1999) which contain cases decided in the superior courts of several Eastern Caribbean jurisdictions including Saint Lucia. 

Appeals from the Saint Lucian Supreme Court go to the regional Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), which has its headquarters on Saint Lucia. This is a superior court of record for nine member states of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three British Overseas Territories (Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Montserrat). Formerly, appeals went to the Court of Appeal of the Windward and Leeward Islands before it was disbanded in 1967. Judgments of the ECSC are freely available online on the ECSC website

As of 2023, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), of CARICOM, is the final court of appeal. Prior to this, the final court of appeal was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were effectively ended as of 2003, and the Constitution of Saint Lucia (Amendment) Act was passed in 2023 following which Saint Lucia officially acceded to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction. 

Judgments of the CCJ are freely available online on the CCJ official website. Decisions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are available on BAILII (1996 onwards, as well as some selected earlier decisions). 

IALS library also has a subscription to the Caribbean content on vLex Justis which includes some unreported cases from Caribbean jurisdictions, including those decided by the Caribbean Court of Justice, and superior and specialist courts.

Books

The library has a very small number of books written specifically about the law of Saint Lucia. Books relating to Saint Lucia can be found at the classmark GN10, along with items about Grenada, Dominica and Saint Vincent. Some examples include:

Liverpool NJO, The history and development of the St. Lucia civil code (University of the West Indies 1977)

Cenac WF, Coutume de Paris to 1988: the evolution of land law in St. Lucia (Voice Press 1988)

Nevertheless, the library has a collection of books relating to the law of the Caribbean region more generally, many of which contain useful information about the law of Saint Lucia. Most of these books can be found at the classmark GR1, with some others classified by subject area. Some examples are listed below.

Albert R, O'Brien D and Wheatle SS (eds), The Oxford handbook of Caribbean constitutions (Oxford University Press 2020)

Anderson W, The law of the sea in the Caribbean (Brill 2022)

Antoine RMB, Commonwealth Caribbean law and legal systems (Routledge-Cavendish 2008)

Belnavis G, Criminal practice and procedure in the Magistrates' courts in the Commonwealth Caribbean (Caribbean Law Publishing Company 2009)

Byer A, Heritage, landscape and spatial justice: new legal perspectives on heritage protection in the Lesser Antilles (Sidestone Press 2022)

Cabatingan L, A region among states: law and non-sovereignty in the Caribbean (University of Chicago 2023)

Farran S, Örücü E and Donlan SP, A study of mixed legal systems: endangered, entrenched or blended (Ashgate Publishing 2014)

Morais D and Dina Y, Legal research methods for the English-speaking Caribbean (Carolina Academic Press 2024)

As part of the Caribbean collection, the library has a number of titles from the Commonwealth Caribbean law series, published by Routledge. Some titles with content relating to Saint Lucia include:

Ffolkes-Goldson S, Commonwealth Caribbean corporate governance (Routledge 2016)

Kodilinye G and Corthésy N, Commonwealth Caribbean tort law (Routledge 2022)

Seetahal DS, Commonwealth Caribbean criminal practice and procedure (Routledge 2022)

Ventose ED, Commonwealth Caribbean administrative law (Routledge 2013)

Journals

There is no legal journal which specifically concerns Saint Lucia. Some content relating to the law of Saint Lucia may be found in legal journals about the Caribbean region as a whole. IALS library has access to the following Caribbean law journals that may contain content relevant to Saint Lucia.

Caribbean Law Review (1991-2009 print; 1991-present online)

West Indian Law Journal (1977-present)

Websites

The following are websites with useful information that is freely available about the law in Saint Lucia.

CommonLII Saint Lucia section for legislation, cases and links to other legal resources

WorldLII Saint Lucia section for legislation, cases and links to other legal resources

Government of Saint Lucia website for information about the Government, legislation and other documentation

Attorney General’s Chambers' Legislative Drafting Unit website for the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia and other information relating to legislation and legislative drafting

Saint Lucia Financial Centre website for business-related commercial and financial legislation

CARICOM website for information about and documents relating to CARICOM

Caribbean Court of Justice website for their judgments and proceedings

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court website for their judgments and other documents

Saint Lucia Research Guide from Florida State University's research guide on Commonwealth Caribbean Law 

Guide to Law Online: Saint Lucia from the Library of Congress research guides

GlobaLex research guide on Caribbean Law Research

Commonwealth Caribbean Court Systems research guide from the University of the West Indies Library

Bodleian Libraries research guide on Caribbean legal resources