 |
David Anthony Cathcart Simmons, KA, BCH(born April 28, 1940) is a Caribbean jurist and politician: a former Chief Justice of Barbados, he also served as Attorney General. [1]
|
David Anthony Cathcart Simmons, KA, BCH(born April 28, 1940) is a Caribbean jurist and politician: a former Chief Justice of Barbados, he also served as Attorney General. [1]
David Simmons was born in Saint Philip, Barbados, the oldest child of Sybil a nurse and Kenneth, a teacher. He has three brothers and one sister. His godparents were Sir Hugh Springer and Dr Hugh Gordon Cummins.[ citation needed ] He was educated at the Wesley Hall Boys' School, St Philip's Boys' School, and The Lodge School and then attended university in London, studying at the London School of Economics 1960–1965, graduating as Master of Laws (LL.M.) and being called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn.[ citation needed ] While in London, Simmons also reported as a journalist on the 1966 Barbados Independence Conference. [2]
Simmons returned to Barbados and joined the chambers of Sir Henry Forde, becoming a Queen's Counsel after 14 years of practice, a record time in Barbados. He also lectured in law at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill. [3]
Simmons became active in the Barbados Labour Party. In 1971, he stood unsuccessfully in the St Philip North seat, before winning it in a by-election in 1976. He served as the House of Assembly member for St Thomas from 1985 until his retirement in 2001, including three terms as Attorney General. [4]
Simmons was made a Knight of St Andrew (Order of Barbados) in November 2001.[ citation needed ]
On 1 January 2002, he became Chief Justice of Barbados. He is a Member of The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the Caribbean Court of Justice and Chairman of the Turks and Caicos Integrity Commission. [5]
He has also served as Chairman of a number of national and international judicial bodies:
In 2006, Simmons was elected as an Honorary Bencher of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn.
Simmons chaired the 2013 CONCACAF investigation which found FIFA Vice President Jack Warner guilty of corruption.
In 2013, he was appointed Chairman of the Tivoli Inquiry into the violence surrounding the 2010 arrest of Christopher Coke. [6]
Simmons married Marie McCormack, later Madam Justice McCormack (the first woman to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Barbados); they have a son and daughter.[ citation needed ]
His personal interests include calypso music and cricket. [7]
The Government of Barbados (GoB), is a unitary parliamentary republic, where the President of Barbados represents as the head of state and the Prime Minister of Barbados represents as the head of government.
Owen Seymour Arthur, PC was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1 August 1993 to 6 September 1994 and from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013.
Ajmal Mian was a Pakistani jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 23 December 1997 to 30 June 1999.
The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Each country is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing improved regional autonomy. The university was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London.
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.
Fergus Dunlop Morton, Baron Morton of Henryton, MC, PC was a British barrister and judge who was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1947 to 1959. The son of a Scottish stockbroker, Morton was educated in Scotland and England, before being called to the English bar. After serving with the British Army in the First World War, during which he won the Military Cross, he developed a successful Chancery practice. He was appointed to the High Court in 1938, promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1944, and to the House of Lords in 1947, retiring from judicial service in 1959.
Lawton R. Nuss is a former Kansas Supreme Court justice appointed by Governor Bill Graves in August 2002. By virtue of tenure, he became chief justice upon Robert E. Davis's resignation. Nuss announced his decision to retire, effective December 17, 2019.
Sir Philip Whistler Street, was the 8th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales. He was the first member of the Street family to attain these viceregal offices, which were later held by his son Sir Kenneth Whistler Street and grandson Sir Laurence Whistler Street.
The Supreme Court of Judicature of Barbados is the highest judicial body in the country of Barbados. It is made up of the High Court and the Court of Appeals.
The following is the Barbadian Table of Precedence.
Sir Percival Burton Curtis Hall is a Judge of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
Sir Lascelles Lister Robotham 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.
Sir John Worrell Carrington, was a British jurist, elected representative, and colonial administrator between 1872 and 1902. He served the Caribbean colonies of Barbados, St. Lucia, Tobago, Grenada, and British Guiana until his final appointment as Chief Justice of Hong Kong.
Dr. Joseph Samuel Archibald, QC was a Saint Kittitian-born British Virgin Islander jurist, lawyer, registrar, magistrate, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and former Attorney General.
Sir David Michael Bean is a British judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason is a Barbadian politician, lawyer, and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021. She was previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2021, the second woman to hold the office. On 20 October 2021, Mason was elected by the Parliament of Barbados to become the country's first president, and took office on 30 November 2021, when Barbados ceased to be a constitutional monarchy and became a republic.
Sir Charles Robert Ritchie Romer, was a British judge who served as Lord Justice of Appeal between 1951 and 1960.
SirJohn William Fisher Beaumont, QC, PC was the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
Sir William Henry Hyndman Jones was a British colonial judge and administrator.