Monica Theresa Joseph (10 January 1934 - 6 July 2023) was a Grenadian judge and public servant.
Joseph was born in Grenada [1] on 10 January 1934. [2] Prior to entering law, Joseph worked for ten years in a number of civil service departments until 1963, when she was granted study leave and went to the United Kingdom to study law. [3] [4]
In November 1966, Joseph was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. [5] She then worked in the Grenadian Ministry of External Affairs. [1] In 1972, she moved to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and entered its Public Legal Service, working as a legal assistant, crown counsel, senior crown counsel, and then Solicitor General and Director of Public Prosecutions until 1982. [1] [4]
In 1982, Joseph was appointed as a judge of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States supreme court, [2] the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), becoming the first woman to sit on the bench of the ECSC. [6] [1] She then served as the first resident judge of the British Virgin Island and Anguilla, and later became resident judge of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. [1] In 1991, she became a justice of appeal for a year and then served a number of temporary stints on the ECSC court of appeal, and was the first woman to sit on the ECSC court of appeal. [1] She retired from the ECSC in 1996. [1]
In 2008, she returned to the ECSC, serving as a High Court Judge for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines until 2012. [1]
Following her retirement in 1996, Joseph was appointed Deputy to the Governor-General of Grenada under the New National Party government, meaning she served as acting governor-general a number of times. [2] [1] She also served as Chair of the Grenada Public Service Commission, and was involved with various charitable organisations. [3]
Joseph was Roman Catholic. [2] [1]
She died on 6 July 2023, aged 89. [2]