The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is celebrating the opening of the law year. As part of its theme, the ECSC will be looking at justice reform amongst other things, Chief Registrar Michelle John-Theobalds said this week.
As part of its celebrations, the ECSC will be hosting a number of activities.
According to John-Theobalds, while it’s “a lot of pomp and ceremony, it serves a very valid purpose because when (we) think about the work of the Court we realize that we have to allow persons to share in these activities.”
“Most activities will start with a church service and that (will) be followed by a parade or a march of the legal fraternity headed by judges, members of the Bar Association, members of staff, as well of the Court, normally walking from whichever church the service is held at to the courthouse… and then we would proceed to the courtroom for a special sitting,” she said.
Whilst some countries will be taking their celebrations a step further, John-Theobalds said “these are the main ones that you can find in each and every member state and territory.”
Locally, things are somewhat different. There were no activities to celebrate the opening of the law year yesterday when the celebrations officially kicked off—rather, the law week will begin on January 15.
“There are a number of activities planned so it sort of coincides with the opening; (the) church service will (take place on) Monday,” she said, noting that a different country is selected to host every year.
“And that usually coincides with the island where the Court of Appeal will be holding its first sitting for that term. This year all roads lead to the spice isle of Grenada,” John-Theobalds added.
Regarding this year’s theme, the Chief Registrar said the ECSC wanted something that would truly encompass what the Court has been doing.
“It brought us full circle to this theme (‘Innovation and Justice Reform, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Looking to the Future’) because a number of activities that the Court has been engaged in clearly speaks to being innovative—whether it is to enhance the development of justice, to ensure that we provide a fair, efficient and prompt administration of justice… to persons of the Eastern Caribbean.”
According to her, the Court has quite a bit planned for the future. John-Theobalds said that individuals can expect lectures/addresses “to really zone in” on the theme from various perspectives.
“There will be a lecture (delivered by Alberton Richelieu) one of our prominent attorneys … in honour of Kenneth Foster and it’s expected to be very intriguing and exhilarating,” she said.
“Our feature address will be delivered by Her Ladyship the Honorable Dame Janice Pereira who is our Chief Justice. It is… bittersweet”, as it will be “the final time that she will be addressing us as Chief Justice,” but “we are looking forward to that.”
In addition to Pereira’s address, John-Theobalds said representatives from each member state will be delivering remarks.
The ECSC’s events will be broadcast live via GIS, the Courts’ website, Facebook and other social media platforms.