Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago explained

The chief justice of Trinidad and Tobago is the highest judge of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and presides over its Supreme Court of Judicature. He is appointed by a common decision of the president, the prime minister and the leader of the main opposition party.^[1]

History

Tobago was claimed for England already by King James I in 1608, however in the following time saw varying rulers.^[2] In 1794, a planter was elected the first chief justice.^[3] The island was eventually ceded to the United Kingdom in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris^[4] and from 1833 it was assigned to the colony of the British Windward Islands.^[5]

In 1797 Trinidad, who had been previously controlled by the Spanish Crown, was captured by a fleet commanded by Sir Ralph Abercromby and thus came under British government.^[6] The post of a chief justice was established in March of the same year.^[7] Both islands, Trinidad and Tobago were incorporated into a single colony in 1888, which gained its independence in 1962.^[8]

Chief justices of Tobago

• 1794–1799: John Balfour^[3] (non-lawyer)
• 1799–1804: Robert Paterson ^[9] (non-lawyer)
• 1805–1828 ?: Elphinstone Pigott
• 1828–1832 No appointment
• 1832–1833: Richard Newton Bennett^[10]
• 1833–? G. Buchanan ^[11] - substitute for Robert Sympson Jameson
• 1840–1841: Robert Nicholas Fynn
• 1841–1861: Edward Dyer Sanderson
• 1862–1867: Henry Iles Woodcock
• 1868–1880: Joseph King Wattley, Jnr ^[12]
• 1880–1882: James Sherrard Armstrong^[13]
• 1882–1888: John Worrell Carrington

Chief judges of Trinidad

• 1797–1808: John Nihell^[7]
• 1808–1811: George Smith^[14]
• 1814–1818: John Thomas Bigge^[15]
• 1818–1830: Ashton Warner^[16]

Chief justices of Trinidad

• 1669–?: Juan Fermin de Huidobro ^[17]
• 1832–1849: George Scotland^[15]
• 1849–1869: William George Knox
• 1870–1885: Joseph Needham
• 1886–1888: Sir John Gorrie^[18]

Chief justices of Trinidad and Tobago

• 1888–1892: Sir John Gorrie^[19]
• 1892–1899: John Tankerville Goldney
• 1900–1903: Sir William John Anderson
• 1903–1907: Ernest Augustus Northcote
• 1908–1924: Alfred van Waterschoodt Lucie-Smith
• 1924–1926: Sir Stanley Fisher (afterwards Chief Justice of Ceylon, 1926)
• 1927–1930: Sir Philip James Macdonell (afterwards Chief Justice of Ceylon, 1930)
• 1930–1937: Charles Frederic Belcher
• 1937–1943: Charles Cyril Gerahty
• 1943–1946: Henry William Butler Blackall
• 1946–1952: Cecil Furness-Smith
• 1952–1958: Joseph Leon Mathieu Perez
• 1958–1960: Stanley Eugene Gomes (afterwards Chief Justice of the West Indies Federation, 1961)
• 1961–1962: Arthur Hugh McShine (acting) ^[20]
• 1962 - Trinidad and Tobago became the independent
• 1962–1968: Sir Hugh Olliviere Beresford Wooding^[21]
• 1969–1970: Arthur Hugh McShine^[20]
• 1970–1971: Clement Phillips (acting) ^[22]
• 1972–1983: Sir Isaac Hyatali^[23]
• 1976 - Trinidad and Tobago is declared as the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
• 1983–1985: Cecil Kelsick^[24]
• 1985–1995: Clinton Bernard^[25]
• 1995–2002: Michael de la Bastide^[26]
• 2002–2008: Satnarine Sharma^[27]
• 2008–present: Ivor Archie^[28]

External links

• Web site: Judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago . 24 December 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100213122249/http://www.ttlawcourts.org/lib_hstproj_cj.htm . 13 February 2010 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: International Commission of Jurists . Attacks on Justice - Trinidad and Tobago . 358 . 24 December 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726065534/http://www.icj.org/IMG/pdf/trinidadtobago.pdf . 26 July 2011 .
2. Hart (1866), p. 238
3. Laurence (1995), p. 55
4. Woodcock (1867), p. 75
5. Woodcock (1867), p. 82
6. Millett (1985), p. 46
7. Millett (1985), p. 47
8. Nolan (2002), p. 1694
9. Book: Tobago in Wartime, 1793-1815. 77.
10. O'Connell (1972), p. 21
11. Book: The Royal Kalendar and Court and City Register for England, Scotland, Ireland and the Colonies, 1933. 463.
12. Book: Modern English Biography: (Supplement v.1-3). 2273.
13. Rose (1888), p. 325
14. Millett (1985), p. 230
15. Joseph (1970), p. 113
16. Hart (1866), p. 198
17. Book: Marley, David. Pirates of the Americas, Volume 1. 139.
18. Brereton (1997), p. 231
19. Brereton (1997), p. 259
20. Comma (1973), p. 193
21. Comma (1973), p. 280
22. Web site: The Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago : Supreme Court : Who's Who : Chief Justices . 2016-02-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160307135124/http://www.ttlawcourts.org/index.php/supreme-court-27/whos-who/chief-justices . 2016-03-07 .
23. Comma (1973), p. 33
24. Yawching (1991), p. 189
25. Yawching (1991), p. 83
26. West (2001), p. 732
27. News: 135 . Appointment of Chief Justice . 7593 . . 15 July 2002 . 24 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111005172134/http://www.news.gov.tt/E-Gazette/Gazette%202002/135_2002.pdf . 5 October 2011 . dead .
28. News: 9 . Appointment of Chief Justice . 55 . . 24 January 2008 . 24 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111005172139/http://www.news.gov.tt/E-Gazette/Gazette%202008/Gazette%20No.%209%20of%202008.pdf . 5 October 2011 . dead .