Sir Lascelles Lister Robotham (22 October 1923 – 19 February 1996) was a Jamaican lawyer and judge who worked in a number of Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean. He was Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court from 1984 until his retirement in 1991.
Robotham was educated in law in London. In 1955, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales at Lincoln's Inn. He returned to Jamaica and worked as a Crown lawyer from 1955 to 1962. He became a magistrate in the Jamaican courts in 1962, and was promoted to the position of High Court Judge 1964. In 1976, he became a member of the Jamaican Court of Appeal.
In 1979, Robotham left Jamaica after being appointed to be a High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the Caribbean Community. His first assignment was to reside in and hear cases from Antigua and Barbuda. He became a Justice of Appeal of the Court in 1982, and in 1984 he became the Chief Justice. As Chief Justice, Robotham was the supreme judicial officer of the courts of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Robotham was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987. He retired in 1991, and was succeeded as Chief Justice by Vincent Floissac. After his retirement from the Caribbean court, he was appointed to be a judge on the Court of Appeal of Belize.
The politics of Antigua and Barbuda takes place in a framework of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, wherein the Sovereign of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of state, appointing a Governor-General to act as vice-regal representative in the nation. A Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General as the head of government, and of a multi-party system; the Prime Minister advises the Governor-General on the appointment of a Council of Ministers. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and those on the Leeward and Windward Islands, came together to form the Federation, with its capital in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state—possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation, Australian Commonwealth, or Central African Federation. Before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts over how it would be governed or function viably. The formation of a West Indian Federation was encouraged by the United Kingdom, but also requested by West Indian nationalists.
The Caribbean Court of Justice is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Established in 2005, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Sir Vincent Frederick Floissac was a Saint Lucian jurist and politician. He was styled The Rt. Hon. Sir Vincent Floissac by virtue of his membership of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is a superior court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three British Overseas Territories. It has unlimited jurisdiction in each member State.
Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron is a former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice. He also serves as President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and is former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and former Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
West Indies Associated States was the collective name for a number of islands in the Eastern Caribbean whose status changed from being British colonies to states in free association with the United Kingdom in 1967. These states were Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent.
Sir Brian George Keith Alleyne, QC is a Dominican jurist and judge.
Sir Hugh Anthony Rawlins is the former Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; he succeeded Brian George Keith Alleyne in the position in 2008 and served until 2012. He had previously served as High Court Judge on the Court, residing in and hearing cases from Saint Kitts and Nevis in that capacity since 2005.
Sir Herbert George Holwell Duffus was a Jamaican who served as the chief Justice of Jamaica and as acting governor-general of Jamaica.
Adrian Dudley Saunders is a judge from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Since 2005, he has been a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Dame Janice Mesadis Pereira, DBE is the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. She became the first female Chief Justice and the first person from the British Virgin Islands to become Chief Justice in 2012.
Frederick Victor Bruce-Lyle was a Ghanaian-born jurist who was a judge in several Caribbean countries.
The Hon. Justice Ephraim Francis Georges is a judge from the Commonwealth of Dominica. He has been a judge in a number of Commonwealth countries and on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
Keith Thom is a Guyanese lawyer who has been a judge in Antigua and Barbuda and on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
Brian Cottle is a lawyer and judge from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who has worked in a number of Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean.
His Lordship Justice Albert Redhead was a Grenadian lawyer and judge who worked in many of the Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean.
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Sylvia Judith Bertrand was a Dominican civil servant who went on to earn a law degree in Dominica and serve as the Director of Public Prosecution. She served as Solicitor General for Dominica and later as High Court Judge for Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the British Virgin Islands on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.