Dawn Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 27th Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands | |
| Assumed office 1 October 2020 | |
| Appointed by | Augustus Jaspert |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Premier | Andrew Fahie Natalio Wheatley |
| Preceded by | Baba Aziz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Road Town,Tortola,British Virgin Islands |
| Education | University of the West Indies (LEC,LLB) Middlebury College (BLA) |
Dawn Smith is a British Virgin Islander lawyer who serves as the Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands since 2020.
Smith was born at Peebles Hospital in Road Town,Tortola,British Virgin Islands. [1] She holds a Legal Education Certificate from Norman Manley Law School in Kingston,Jamaica,a Bachelor of Laws,Upper Second Class Honours from the University of the West Indies,Barbados;and Bachelor of Liberal Arts,cum laude with Highest Honours in Sociology-Anthropology from Middlebury College,Middlebury,Vermont,USA. [2]
Smith worked as an attorney at O'Neal Webster O'Neal Myers Fletcher &Gordon from 1997 to 2001. From 2002 to 2006 and again from 2009 to 2012,she was an attorney at Conyers Dill &Pearman,from 2006 to 2009 she served as director of the London office. From 2013 to 2020,she was general counsel at the Financial Services Commission. From 2017 to 2019,she served as acting permanent secretary of the premier's office,where she supervised and coordinated the work of departments under the premier's portfolio;preparing and managing the ministry's annual budget;developing and implementing strategic plans and serving as an ex-officio member on statutory boards and organisations such as the BVI Tourist Board and BVI Finance. [2]
In May 2020,Smith was selected as attorney general, [3] with the premier naming a Virgin Islander. [4] On 18 September 2020,Smith was appointed by Augustus Jaspert as Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands,effective 1 October 2020. [2] She was sworn in on 1 October 2020. [5] [6] She is the seventh woman to be appointed as attorney general. [7]
The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a political party in the British Virgin Islands. It is presently led by Natalio Wheatley. It is the oldest active political party in the British Virgin Islands,and it has won more general elections (seven) than any other political party in the British Virgin Islands.
Ralph Telford O'Neal,OBE was a British Virgin Islander politician. He was the longest ever serving elected representative in the British Virgin Islands,and served as Chief Minister or Premier of the British Virgin Islands for three terms.
Ruth Dancia Penn,is a British Virgin Islands politician and former Deputy Governor of the British Virgin Islands from 20 September 2004 to 1 April 2007. She also formerly served as the Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands from 1992 to 1999.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 20 August 2007. The result was a landslide victory for the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP) over the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP).
Politics of the British Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency,whereby the Premier is the head of government,and of a multi-party system. The British Virgin Islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The Constitution of the Islands was introduced in 1971 and amended in 1979,1982,1991,1994,2000 and 2007. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 7 November 2011. The result was a decisive victory for the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) led by Orlando Smith over the incumbent Virgin Islands Party (VIP),led by Premier Ralph T. O'Neal. No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 8 June 2015 to elect members to the House of Assembly. The result was a landslide victory for the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) over the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP). No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats. Unusually,every single incumbent candidate who stood in their original seat was victorious.
The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Assembly that is not in government.
The Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands is the principal legal adviser to the Government of the British Virgin Islands. Under the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands the Attorney General sits ex officio in both the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands and in the Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands,but is not permitted to vote in either. The Attorney General also sits on the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy and on the National Security Council.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 25 February 2019. For the first time,four parties with at least one incumbent member were contesting an election.
Dr. Kedrick Pickering is the former Deputy Premier of the Virgin Islands,also known as the British Virgin Islands. He also served as the territory's Minister of Natural Resources and Labour. He is a member of the National Democratic Party.
Andrew Alturo Fahie was a British Virgin Islands politician who served as Premier of the British Virgin Islands from 2019 to 2022. He was also the chairman of the Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands from 2016 to 2022. He was convicted of a range of charges relating to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States in 2024.
Events from the year 2014 in the British Virgin Islands.
Ethlyn Smith was a civil servant from the British Virgin Islands,who became one of the first two women elected to the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands. After a career of more than two decades as an accountant and public administrator in the civil service of the British Virgin Islands,Smith retired and entered politics. She contested her first election in 1995 as an independent,winning the 5th District. She was reelected to the post in 1999,serving until her defeat in the 2003 elections.
Events from the year 2019 in the British Virgin Islands.
Natalio Dixon Wheatley is a British Virgin Islands politician currently serving as Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He is the grandson of former Chief Minister,Willard Wheatley. He has at times expressed a preference to be referred to by his adopted African name,Sowande Uhuru.
Alvera Maduro-Caines is a British Virgin Islands politician. She is a ex member of the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands for the Sixth District,a position that she has held since the 2011 general election. She was originally elected as a representative of the National Democratic Party but in 2020,she crossed the floor to join the Virgin Islands Party. She is the current Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism.
Shereen D. Flax-Charles is a British Virgin Islands politician. She is an At-large representative for the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands,a position that she has held since the 2019 general election. She is the current Junior Minister for Trade and Economic Development.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 24 April 2023. The governing Virgin Islands Party (VIP) remained the largest party in the House of Assembly but lost its majority resulting in a hung parliament.
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