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The legal system in the English speaking Caribbean islands is radically different from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Maarten, or Aruba. In those islands which are independent countries, among them being Jamaica, Trinidad, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada etc. the laws are generally based on the English common law system which is similar to the legal system in the United States. However, one radical difference from the civil and criminal laws in the English speaking Caribbean islands is that in a criminal case, for example, just like in the United Kingdom, a person must generally prove himself to be innocent unlike in the United States were a person is innocent until the state or federal government prosecutor proves the accused to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before a jury of his peers. In the former British colonies in the Caribbean, the courts are also often very slow moving. In many cases, foreigners are discriminated against and judges often side with local citizens during a legal dispute creating a justice system which often appears very one-sided.
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The Caribbean islands are very unique in terms of the system of justice in each of the countries. All of the Caribbean islands were former colonies of either the British, Spanish, French or the Dutch. The civil and criminal legal justice systems in each of these countries usually depends on the origin of their laws which directly relate to their colonial status. For example, the Dominican Republic was a former Spanish colony and therefore, both their civil and criminal justice systems are based on the Spanish legal system. Much like Central and South America, the criminal and civil laws and justice systems in the Dominican Republic are often cumbersome in nature where a single judge usually decides a case based on the written pleadings of the attorneys involved in representing the litigants. Normally speaking, there is only a minimal amount of oral argument in both civil and criminal cases in this country.
It is important to retain an attorney or law firm that is very experienced when litigating legal matters anywhere in the Caribbean. Not only do the judges respect the attorneys with more experience and quality cases, but corruption is less prevalent when well respected and honest attorneys appear before judges in these islands. Our firm is familiar with attorneys in the various Caribbean islands who have co-counseled with our firm during important legal cases involving corporate entities and individuals. This does not mean that the legal system may not be unduly influenced in any of the Caribbean islands during a legal case but our firm has vetted the attorneys that we use who provide legal support to our investigative firm. Therefore, we always strive to protect the rights of our clients and produce the most positive result for them on their behalf during any investigation on any of the islands in the Caribbean. Our attorneys speak Spanish and French as well which is extremely important when dealing with the government entities, legal systems, attorneys and judges in the non- English speaking islands throughout the Caribbean.
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 Some of the islands in the Caribbean are still governed by European countries such as in the Grand Cayman Islands where British law is still the law of the land. The French also still have dominance over the islands of Martinique and Guadalupe in the Caribbean. Therefore in these locations, British and French law totally applies. In the U.S. Virgin Islands for example, U.S. Federal law applies yet there are also local courts which decide a variety of issues in St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. In the Netherlands Antilles such as Aruba and Curacao, Dutch law applies completely. In the Caribbean there are some islands that use two systems of justice such as St. Martin where both French and Dutch law is applied depending on the location on the island. On the island of Hispanola where you have the two countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti the laws are radically different depending on the venue of the legal case at hand.
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