With a busy High Court session in Anguilla, an Acting Judge for the civil matters was sworn by His Excellency the Governor, Alistair Harrison, on Wednesday in the Executive Council Chambers.
The Acting Judge, whose appointment is for one month, is Sir Claire Roberts of Antigua, who visitedAnguillatwice before on other matters. In 2006, Sir Claire was knighted for his contribution to human rights, the law and the youth ofAntigua.
He has been a lawyer for 37 years and is a former Attorney General of Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands andMontserrat. This is his first stint on the Bench in Anguilla. He was President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights based inWashingtonand served as a Commissioner for eight years.
Governor Harrison said it was always a pleasure for him to swear in an Acting Judge, but it was also particularly a pleasure to welcome back somebody who had been to the island twice before.
“The situation, as we all know, is that the Criminal Assizes is starting and our Resident Judge, Justice Blenman, will be therefore be more than fully occupied for the next several weeks,” the Governor explained. “Judge Roberts will be helping us out on the civil matters. It will therefore be good that those matters will not have to stand in abeyance. This is something we do whenever the backlog gets too stressful, all extremely competently managed by our excellent Registrar, Vernette Richardson.
“I look forward to seeing the Judge around. I hope he does manage to get sometime on our beautiful beaches and I wish him a very pleasant stay indeed.”
