The Tribune

THE Judicial and Legal Service Commission has announced the appointment of new judges to the Supreme and Magistrates Courts.

“During the past several years, there has been a reduction in the number of justices of the Supreme Court caused in part by the retirement of two judges, the elevation of two other judges to the Court of Appeal and another judge who commenced her pre-retirement leave this year. Meanwhile, the volume of the work of the Supreme Court has continued to increase during that period of time,” the JLSC said.

To address these concerns, the JLSC has advised Governor General Sir C A Smith to make the following appointments under Article 92(2) of the Constitution.

Effective May 31, Juanita Denise Lewis-Johnson, Jeanine Weech-Gomez and Andrew Forbes will be Supreme Court justices. Neil Braithwaite and Camille Darville-Gomez will be appointed as Supreme Court justices effective June 14 and August 3, respectively.

The JLSC said Magistrates Court has also been affected by recent developments, including the retirement of two magistrates in 2020 and the resignation of a New Providence magistrate earlier this year. The elevation of Deputy Chief Magistrate Forbes and Coroner/Magistrate Weech-Gomez to the Supreme Court will further exacerbate these issues.

In order to address the “urgent need” to appoint new magistrates to deal with the volume of work in Magistrates Court, the following appointments have been advised under Section 13 of the Magistrates Act: Algernon Allen, Jr, Kendra Kelly, Shaka Seville, and Ian-Marie Darville-Miller as stipendiary and circuit magistrates effective June 14 and Simone Brown as stipendiary and circuit magistrate effective July 5. Ms Brown will be assigned to the northern region.