Deputy Governor Stanley Reid, Chief Minister Hubert Hughes and Governor Alistair Harrison
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court began sitting in its Appellate Jurisdiction in Anguilla on Monday, April 22. The opportunity was taken to celebrate three notable appointments of Judges who served earlier in Anguilla and were deservedly elevated on the Bench some months ago.
The first was the appointment of Justice Janice Pereira, the region’s first female Chief Justice and successor to Sir Hugh Rawlins following his retirement; the second, Justice Louise Blenman as Justice of Appeal; and the third, Justice Mario Michel also as Justice of Appeal. Of particular note, all three Justices served in the Anguilla Circuit of the High Court before their elevations – and this featured throughout the addresses by a number of representatives from the Public and Private Bars as well as from the Justices themselves.
Sitting on the Bench with them were Acting Justice of Appeal, John Carrington, QC; and newly-appointed High Court Judge in Anguilla, Justice Cheryl Mathurin, who presided over the ceremony.
The list of persons who spoke warmly and in appreciation of the Justices comprised the following Attorneys: Acting Attorney General, Mr.Ivor Greene; President of the Anguilla Bar Association,Ms. Yvette Wallace; Vice President,Mrs. Josephine Gumbs-Connor; Mrs. Joyce Kentish-Egan; Ms.Palmavon Webster; Mr. Alex Richardson; Mr. Kenneth Porter; Ms.Ivenia Benjamin, Senior Magistrate; Ms. Jean Dyer; and Mrs.Keesha Carty.
All three Justices replied to the addresses – the first of whom was Justice Michel. “Madam Chief Justice, I crave your indulgence to take this opportunity to thank all the distinguished members of both the Public and Private Bar of Anguilla for their kind words spoken of me – and their congratulations on my appointment as a Justice of Appeal of this Court,” Justice Michel said.
“Of course, for me, Anguilla was where it all started as this was the place where my judicial journey began. It was one the first of February 2009 that I was appointed to act as a Judge of the High Court and assigned to Anguilla. At the time, quite frankly, it was not part of my plan to become a Judge of the High Court. But I was merely responding to a request by then Chief Justice Rawlins to assist the Court by temporarily filling the vacancy created by the elevation to the Court of Appeal of then Resident Judge of Anguilla, Her Ladyship Janice Pereira.
“I had declined the invitation of the Chief Justice to serve for six months until the end of the Law Year because I did not then think that I wanted to significantly disrupt my private practice in St. Lucia. But with all the courtesy shown to me, and the cooperation given to me, by the Bar in Anguilla, during my brief stint here, I was motivated to consent to the request of the Learned Chief Justice to do a further acting stint to take me to the end of the Judicial Year.
“But Ms T’nania Small-Davis had by that time been approached and agreed to do an acting spell in Anguilla to go to the end of the Law Year, and so the Chief Justice asked me to go to Grenada to serve out the end of the Law Year in that in territory. By the time that my second stint as an Acting Judge was coming to an end, I was persuaded – and was then amenable to apply for, and to accept, an appointment as a fulltime Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. So it was that on the first of September, 2009, I was appointed as a Judge of the Court and assigned to Antigua and Barbuda to replace Justice Louise Blenman who had, as of that date, been reassigned from Antigua and Barbuda to serve as the Resident Judge of Anguilla.
“So the island of Anguilla has profoundly impacted on the Judiciary of the Eastern Caribbean and, in particular, on the judicial careers of all three of us to whom tribute is being paid to Anguilla. So it is Anguilla therefore which must take the credit, or the criticism, where we sit today as Chief Justice and Justices of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.”
Next to address the Court was Justice Louise Blenman who thanked the speakers for all the kind things they said about her and for their pledges of continued support. She stated in part: “While you have given me many accolades, I must tell you that it was a great honour to serve here in Anguilla with the support and cooperation of such an outstanding, honest, bright group of professionals – a Bar that is keenly interested in Anguilla and dedicated to the effective functioning of the justice system.
“I must also let you know that for the nine years that I served as a High Court Judge, three of my best years were spent here in Anguilla. Many persons contributed to the enriching of this experience and they include the Private and Public Bar, the public officials and the Court’s staff. I remain impressed and pleased with the exceptional support and commitment to the proper administration of justice that was so obvious here in Anguilla. You have never wavered in giving the Court your cooperation. I am grateful to all of you for the support you gave me that made the…work that I had here seemed so easy and enjoyable.
“Equally, I applaud the honesty, integrity and the commitment of the Bar, both Public and Private, to the rule of law. I gained a lot from serving here in Anguilla for, indeed, it is in this jurisdiction that I was able to effectively utilise my professional training as a Lawyer, a Law Lecturer and a Judge to the benefit of all those persons who came to this Court to seek justice. The Bar here truly inspired me; the warmth and cooperation in my view is unparalleled and I thank all of you very sincerely.”
Justice Blenman was followed by Chief Justice Janice Pereira, confessed: “Every time I land on the island of Anguilla I have that sense of coming home and I think it can only be second to my hometown in the British Virgin Islands. And so I claim of kinship to both, because I have always felt so welcomed amongst warm, friendly and helpful people as Anguillians are. It gives me great joy to be here. Indeed, it is here that on the first of September 2003 that I set out, so-to-speak, on my judicial Ithaca. On my very first assignment, as Resident High Court Judge of Anguilla, but also at the time with responsibility for Montserrat, Ithaca has not fooled me but rather has provided me with an interesting journey, so far, filled with many experiences.”
Chief Justice Pereira recalled that she served on the Bench in Anguilla up to December 2008. “Sitting on the Bench in Anguilla was quite a pleasant [exercise]. I always remember it with such fondness in terms of the legal practitioners, even those who were juniors… but nonetheless it was quite a pleasant exercise. They thought that they perhaps were learning something for me, but I confess that it is me who was doing a considerable amount of learning from them – and I thank you for it.
“It is also here in Anguilla, in fact – because Anguilla was the jurisdiction apart from Montserrat which I served – that I took the Oath of Office of the higher calling: that of the Justice of Appeal on the 9th of January, 2009. Even though I did shorter stints in other islands, really Anguilla was – for intents and purposes – my home.
“I will recall, with vivid memory, and fondness, the Special Sitting which was held here that very morning of the 9th of January 2009. And it is here that Attorney-at-Law, Lisa Bass, in her well wishes recited to me the poem Ithaca, and I have had quite a bit of time to think about Ithaca and what it means and its understandings. And so, I strive to keep Ithaca always in my mind with the understanding that it is not the end of the journey which matters, or enriches you, but indeed the journey itself.
“That journey has taken me to the Headquarters of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, from where I travel out to all member states and territories throughout the year, and from which I gain newer and broader perspectives and the opportunities for greater learning.
“Today, I return here in this familiar hall as your Chief Justice, and I am profoundly honoured and humbled to have been selected by the Heads of our Eastern Caribbean States to serve you in this capacity. It is an awesome responsibility. It is nonetheless one that I take very, very seriously.”
Following the addresses, the Special Sitting of the Court was concluded by the presiding Judge, Justice Cheryl Mathurin.
