Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

Multilateral in force

INTRODUCTION

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) was founded on 18 June 1981 with the adoption of the Treaty of Basseterre. The organization's original goals were to promote cooperation, solidarity, and economic integration by establishing a Common Market (Article 3 of the Treaty and Annex 1). One of the principles guiding the creation of this Common Market was the removal of barriers to the free movement of people. The Council of Ministers was responsible for overseeing this process and making recommendations for eliminating obstacles to free movement (Articles 3 and 12, Annex 1, 1981 Treaty).

However, free movement became a reality only when the Revised Treaty of Basseterre and Protocol of the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union were adopted on 18 June 2010. Articles 12 and 27 of the Protocol offer citizens of the Member States the right to free movement, non-discrimination in employment and self-employment, and the enjoyment of other contingent rights to freedom of movement.

Since the revised Treaty entered into force in 2011, the Authority—composed of the Heads of Government of the Member States and acting as the supreme policy-making organ of the organization—has adopted several Decisions binding on all Member States (Art. 8 Revised Treaty). This further deepens the free movement regime by offering OECS citizens indefinite entry into other states and contingent rights. In 2011, the Authority confirmed that the free movement regime had to be implemented from 1 August.

We have yet to receive the text of several key Decisions despite our best efforts. We have only had access to the Communiqués, which offer a summary of the norms adopted in a particular meeting of the Authority, or to media releases. Interestingly, the OECS website summarises the rights OECS citizens enjoy (here and here) but does not explain from which legal instruments those rights derive. This has obvious negative implications for legal certainty and the rule of law in general, which go beyond this project’s scope.

MEMBER STATES

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA
GRENADA
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
SAINT LUCIA
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

Montserrat is also a Member State, but we do not include it in our dataset because it is a British overseas territory and not a member of the United Nations.

HEADQUARTERS

Castries, Saint Lucia

DATE OF CREATION

18 June 1981.

TIMELINE

1981	Creation of the OECS with the adoption of the Treaty of Basseterre on 18 June
1981	Entry into force of the Treaty on 5 October
2010	Adoption of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre on 18 June
2011	Entry into force of the Revised Treaty on 21 January
2011	Adoption of a Decision by the OECS Authority at its 53rd Meeting on 19-20 May that OECS citizens are granted indefinite entry into other Member States and that the free movement regime will be implemented from 1 August
2015	Adoption of a Decision by the OECS Authority at its 62nd meeting on 18-19 November to approve the Policy on Rights Contingent on the Right to Freedom of Movement

KEY LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Treaty Establishing the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, including Annex 1 establishing the East Caribbean Common Market, Basseterre, 18 June 1981, entry into force 5 October 1981.

Revised Treaty of Basseterre Establishing the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Economic Union, St Lucia, 18 June 2010, with its Protocol of Eastern Caribbean Economic Union. Entered into force 21 January 2011.

Decision OECS Authority, 53rd Meeting, 19-20 May 2011, on indefinite entry for OECS citizens (Communiqué). We have only access to the Communiqué and not the Decision. The rights offered by the Decision are also summarised in an OECS 2024 media release.

The OECS Commission (2015) Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Policy on Rights Contingent on the Right To Freedom of Movement Within the Economic Union. Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission, Saint Lucia.

Decision OECS Authority, 62nd Meeting, approving the Policy on Rights Contingent on the Right to Freedom of Movement in this context, 18-19 November 2015, Dominica (Communiqué).

ADDITIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY DOCUMENTS

OECS Secretariat, Free Movement of OECS Citizens, Administrative Arrangements and Procedures, 2011.

OECS Commission and Open Society Policy Centre, Implementation of the OECS Policy on Contingent Rights. A Legislative Review and Comparative Frameworks, 4 June 2021

OECS, Contingent Rights Act, Model Bill, 2022.