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. [1] He is appointed by a common decision of the president, the prime minister and the leader of the main opposition party. [1]
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]
The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498,, and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch, and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889, the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
The chief justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The chief justice is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.
The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 31 December 1959 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Barbados, Tobago, and Dominica, previously included in the British Leeward Islands.
Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter was an administrative officer in the Royal Navy and a colonial official for the British Empire.
Sir John Tankerville Goldney was a British barrister who rose to be Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, and was also High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1910. He is also notable for introducing golf to Singapore in 1891.
The Supreme Court of Sierra Leone is the highest court in Sierra Leone. It has final jurisdiction in all civil, criminal, and constitutional cases within Sierra Leone, and its decisions cannot be appealed. The Supreme Court has the exclusive constitutional power to overturn ruling of lower courts within the jurisdiction of Sierra Leone. The Supreme Court, along with the Court of Appeals, High Court of Justice, and magistrate courts form the Judicial branch of the Government of Sierra Leone.
Sir John Gorrie was a British judge who served through the British colonies of the nineteenth century.
The Chief Justice of Belize is the head of the Supreme Court of Belize. Under Chapter 7 of the Constitution of Belize, the Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Sir Stanley Fisher was a British colonial judge who was the 24th Chief Justice of Ceylon.
According to the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, the supreme law of the nation, the attorney general and minister of legal affairs of Trinidad and Tobago is the primary legal advisor to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
The chief justice of the Leeward Islands headed the Supreme Court of the Leeward Islands.
The Chief Justice of Grenada is the head of the Supreme Court of Grenada which consists of the High Court with three justices and a two-tier Court of Appeal.
The Chief Justice of Bermuda is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of Bermuda.
Sir Robert Howard Furness (1880–1959) was a British Chief Justice of Barbados, after which he became Chief Justice of Jamaica from April 1936.
The Port of Spain Gazette was a newspaper based in Port of Spain, Trinidad between 1825 and 1959. The paper took a proslavery position in the 1830s, and later supported the rights of local elites against the Crown colony government. In the twentieth century the paper supported the government and opposed the labour movement.
Henry Iles Woodcock was Chief Justice of Tobago from 1862 until 1867.
Cyrus Prudhomme David was a Trinidad and Tobago lawyer, reformer, and member of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago. Born in Cedros in southwest Trinidad, David was mentored by author John Jacob Thomas and educated at Queen's Royal College in Port of Spain. He was one of the first non-white students to win an Island Scholarship, which allowed him to read law in Britain. After being called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1889, David returned to Trinidad where he practiced law and became the secretary of the Legislative Reform Committee.
Bridget Brereton is a Trinidad-based historian, who is Emerita Professor of History History at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She is the author of works including A History of Modern Trinidad; Law, Justice and Empire: The Colonial Career of John Gorrie, 1829–1892; Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad, 1870–1900 and her articles have been widely published in journals and as book chapters. She edited Volume V of the UNESCO General History of the Caribbean: The Twentieth Century (2004), and has been co-editor of several other books.