Trinidadian jurist Peter Jamadar will officially sit on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) bench from July 15 to succeed Justice David Hayton who will be retiring from the Court after 14 years of service.
His appointment was announced by the CCJ last Friday, a day after he was sworn in by Trinidad and Tobago President Paula Mae-Weekes last Thursday.
Justice Jamadar said he was “proud and humbled” by his appointment.
“For any Caribbean jurist or legal practitioner, one of the pinnacle achievements must be, to sit as a judge of the CCJ. It is at once an office of great status and of even greater service,” he said.
“It is with great pride and humility that I take my seat on the CCJ. It is my hope that I will unwaveringly follow the ethical dictates of my oath, and do justice to all who seek it before this court.”
CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders, noted during the ceremony that Justice Jamadar’s appointment marked the culmination of a competitive process, conducted by the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission, the independent body responsible for selecting and appointing staff of the Court.
He pointed out that the Commission did not only consider the respective qualifications, experience and skill sets of the applicants.
“As mandated by the Agreement Establishing the CCJ, the Commission was also obliged to consider the applicants’ moral character, their intellectual and analytical ability, the soundness of their judgment, their integrity, and their understanding of people and society,” he said.
The CCJ president welcomed Justice Jamadar to the regional court, noting that “his judgments are erudite and well-reasoned. They demonstrate a high intellect, a deep understanding of Caribbean society, and an abiding sense of fairness. Unsurprisingly, several of these judgments have been cited with approval by judges of both the CCJ and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.”
Justice Jamadar previously served as a Judge of the Appeal Court of Trinidad and Tobago. He is the Vice President (Programming) and a Faculty member of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI) and Vice-Chairman of the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO). He is also a certified Transpersonal Psychologist and a certified Mediator. He has written two books and numerous articles and authored various publications relating to law.
The CCJ was inaugurated on April 16, 2005. It functions as both a municipal court of last resort (in its appellate jurisdiction) and an international court with compulsory and exclusive jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty of Chaguaramas (in its original jurisdiction). Only Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana have so far signed on to the court’s appellate jurisdiction and replaced the Privy Council with the CCJ as their final appeal court. (Caribbean360.com)
